Potter and Black and the Philosopher's Stone
by Marauder's Lilyflower
Summary: Follows Andromeda Emily Black, Sirius Black's daughter, and her adventures with her friends. Sorry this is a bad summary. Please just give it a try.
1. Chapter 1 - The Boy Who Lived

**Hi! So a while ago I wrote Potter and Black and the Prisoner and Potter and Black and the Goblet of Fire. I have decided, however, to completely rewrite the story so that it starts from the Philosopher's Stone. I hope you enjoy. Please R & R. I love feedback!**

 **So this story is about Andromeda Emily Black, Sirius' daughter, and her adventures with Harry. I do want to let everyone know that she is an OC, as are two other main characters so if any of you are against that, it is your choice whether or not you want to continue reading. I'm uploading the whole of this story at once, so if anyone has any ideas they want me to add into the story, please tell me and I can try and fit it into the next book or edit them into this one.**

 **Also, I am not as good of a writer as J.K. Rowling, so please do not be mad at me if you are disapointed at my grammar at any point. If you want me to fix it, all you have to do is ask.**

 **Diclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's characters, only my own OCs.**

 **Chapter 1 - The Boy Who Lived**

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.

Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him.

This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.

It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again.

There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.

Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night time. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.

He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.

"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"

Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks...

He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.

"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.

Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.

"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behaviour? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.

Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:

"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."

Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...

Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"

As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

"No," she said sharply. "Why?"

"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."

"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.

"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."

Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"

"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."

He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.

Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.

The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them...

How very wrong he was.

Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.

A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."

He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.

"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."

Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours."

She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

"A what?"

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"

"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.

"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."

"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. "

Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.

"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."

Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.

"And Emily Black. They're saying she was there too. Oh, Albus please not that poor girl too?"

"I'm afraid so."

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone.

Dumbledore nodded glumly.

"It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles.

Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."

"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"

"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.

"Hagrid's bringing him."

"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding two bundles of blankets.

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir. An' little Andromeda Black, too. Sirius said he had summat to do. 'Course he was put in Azkaban today so I figured she should stay with Harry."

"Of course, Hagrid. No problems, were there?"

"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got 'em out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. They fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundles of blankets. Inside the first, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning. The second bundle held a tiny baby girl, black hair curtaining her face. From what could be seen, no apparent harm could be seen, however unbeknownst to the on-lookers, there was a cut on her wrist, almost identical to her companion's.

"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall, gazing upon Harry's face.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give them here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."

Dumbledore took Harry and Andromeda Black in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.

"Could I - could I say good-bye to 'em, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss and, turning towards Andromeda, did the same to her. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James, an' Emily too, dead - an' poor little Harry and 'Dromeda off ter live with Muggles -"

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry and Andromeda gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundles; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike ter young Remus Lupin. He'll probably be wantin' to look after it I expect. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundles of blankets on the step of number four.

"Good luck," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Andromeda Black snoozed on, not knowing that she was special nor that she would not wake to her parent's looming faces over her like every other morning she had awoken. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"


	2. Chapter 2 - The Vanishing Glass

**Chapter 2 - The Vanishing Glass**

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew and a little girl on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy or girl lived in the house, too.

Yet Harry Potter and Andromeda Black were still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. Harry's Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

Andromeda woke with a start. Their aunt rapped on the door again.

"Up! Both of you!" she screeched. Andromeda heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. She nudged Harry who was sleeping soundly next to her awake and rolled onto her back and tried to remember the dream she had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. She had a funny feeling she'd had the same dream before.

Their aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you up yet?" she demanded.

"Nearly," said Harry at the same time Andromeda growled, "Yeah, yeah, hold your horses."

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon and serve breakfast. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Andromeda banged her head on the wall while Harry groaned.

"What did you say?" their aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing..."

Dudley's birthday - how could she have forgotten? It was the day she'd been dreading for weeks. She and Harry got slowly out of their shared bed and she stretched as far as the small space would allow her while Harry started looking for socks. He found a pair under their bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry and Andromeda were used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where they slept.

When they were ready they went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Andromeda, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but both Harry and Andromeda had always been small and skinny for their age. Harry looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.

Andromeda was almost just as skinny, but she could often do the strangest thing; she could change her hair and face shape and even her nose when she concentrated hard enough. Sometimes she could even change her whole body stature or make her face resemble a duck's or even a goat's. Quite few times, she changed into a huge black dog, but she just put it down to the changing appearance thing. Although one time when she changed into the dog, she didn't know how to change back for three whole days. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had always chided and punished her when she did it so most of the time she only did it when she was in the cupboard with Harry and they needed amusement. But sometimes at school when she became too angry, or too happy, or sometimes even too embarrassed, her hair would change into the most peculiar colours. Her clothes were the worst clothes too, which she was always teased for at school. Aunt Petunia had tried forcing her to wear dresses and skirts so that she could look like a "proper young lady" but after Andromeda was caught stealing a pair of jeans from the lost property at school, her aunt settled for worn out jeans and baggy shirts like Harry's clothes.

It was always unfair that they didn't look as nice or as cared for as the other children and that they had only each other to look after one another. They were best friends and had been for as long as they could both remember. Harry even nicknamed her "Andy". The only thing Harry and Andromeda liked about their own appearances were the very thin scars on their skin that were shaped like a bolt of lightning. They had had it as long as they could remember, and the first question Andromeda could ever remember Harry asking his Aunt Petunia was how they had gotten them.

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said to Harry.

"What about my parents?" Andromeda had asked. "Where are they?"

"Your mother died in the crash too, and your father is in jail," Aunt Petunia said. "And don't ask questions."

Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

Andromeda has also asked why she was there, where the rest of her family was, but her aunt and uncle had just told her she wasn't wanted and yelled at her for asking such a question. When she was young, just starting to learn their names, they had insisted that she call them her aunt and uncle so that no one would ask why they had her. She had understood and obliged, but knew that they weren't really her relatives.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon and Andromeda was buttering the toast.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in their class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.

Harry and Andromeda were frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry and Andromeda often joked that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Both Harry and Andromeda, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down their bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."

"Thirty-nine, idiot," said Andromeda. Aunt Petunia shot her a scathing glare.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry, Andromeda and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take them." She jerked her head in Harry and Andromeda's direction.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Andromeda's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry and Andromeda were left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. They hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made them look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry and Andromeda as though they'd planned this. Andromeda knew she ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when she reminded herself it would be a whole year before she had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again. Good riddance.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy. Don't get me started on the girl."

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry and Andromeda like this, as though they weren't there - or rather, as though they were something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave us here," Harry put in hopefully and Andromeda knew it was because he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.

Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.

"Andy and I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.

"No promises," Andromeda muttered to Harry who then snorted into the remainder of his breakfast.

"I suppose we could take them to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave them in the car..."

"That car's new, they're not sitting in it alone..."

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let them spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I... don't... want... them... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "They always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry and Andromeda a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Andromeda rolled her eyes. Typical Dudley.

Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Andromeda, who couldn't believe her luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley and Harry squished between Harry and the car door, on the way to the zoo for the first time in her life. Her aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with them, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry and Andromeda aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to theirs, "I'm warning you now, boy, girl - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

"We're not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly.."

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and Andromeda and it was just no good telling the Dursleys they didn't make them happen.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in the cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force Andromeda into a revolting old sweater (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over her head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Andromeda. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to her great relief, Andromeda wasn't punished.

On the other hand, Harry had gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry and Andromeda's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of their cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump. And when Dudley had teased him endlessly for his punishment, Andromeda had also been given a week in the cupboard for punching Dudley.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, their cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Andromeda, the bank, Harry, and Andromeda were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.

"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Andromeda, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

"Weird. So did I," Harry commented.

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry and Andromeda, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

"We know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."

But Andromeda wished she hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than their asking questions, it was their talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think they might get dangerous ideas.

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry and Andromeda what they wanted before they could be hurried away, they were bought a cheap lemon ice pop each. It wasn't bad, either, Andromeda thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.

Andromeda had the best morning she'd had in a long time and knew Harry was enjoying it, too. They were careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting Harry. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry and Andromeda were allowed to share the first.

Andromeda felt, afterward, that she should have known it was all too good to last.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

Harry and Andromeda moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. Andromeda wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least they got to visit the rest of the house.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry and Andromeda's.

It winked.

Harry and Andromeda looked at each other, dumbfounded. Then they looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. They looked back at the snake and winked, too.

The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave them a look that said quite plainly:

"I get that all the time."

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass.

Andromeda looked at him weirdly, shrugged, and then said to the snake, "It must be really annoying."

The snake nodded vigorously.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked as if this was a usual occurrence like commenting on the weather.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry and Andromeda peered at it.

 _Boa Constrictor, Brazil._

"Was it nice there?" Andromeda asked.

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and they read on: _This specimen was bred in the zoo._

"Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind them made them jump.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor, grabbing Andromeda on the way down so she fell, too. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

Harry sat up and gasped as Andromeda stared; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past them, Andromeda could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigos."

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Andromeda had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry and Andromeda at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry and Andromeda were talking to it, weren't you?"

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on them. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

Harry and Andromeda lay in their dark cupboard much later, wishing they had a watch. They didn't know what time it was and they couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, they couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food, so instead, they just lay there conversing about the day, and about the animals they had seen.

They'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as they could remember, ever since they'd been babies and their parents had died in that car crash. She couldn't remember being in the car when her mother and Harry's parents had died. Sometimes, when she strained her memory during long hours in their cupboard, she came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on her forearm where her scar was. This, she supposed, was the crash, though she couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. She had assumed the light was from the crash because when she had mentioned it to Harry, he had said he saw the same thing. She could sometimes remember her parents. Her mother's fiery hair and her father's grey, happy eyes and his long black hair. She remembered Harry's parents, similar looking to her own, and that his dad was her Uncle Prongs, although not related. She remembered her Uncle Moony, her Uncle Wormy, as well as her friend Noah and her cousin Dorcas, who were both just as small and young as Andromeda was. She could never remember their last names, or sometimes what they even looked like. She talked to Harry about them often as though she still knew them and he asked questions about them and asked what it was she loved about them. At times she wondered if the memories of them were what kept her sane. Her aunt and uncle never spoke about them and god forbids anyone mention Harry's parents, and of course they were forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of any of them in the house.

Another peculiar dream she had was actually a memory from when she was about three years old. Aunt Petunia had taken her, Harry and Dudley shopping and Andromeda walked off when her aunt's back was turned. A woman with long, messy black hair had found her and taken her to a secluded part of the shop. The next thing Andromeda knew was pain.

When she had been younger, Andromeda had dreamed and dreamed of her Uncle Moony coming to take her and Harry away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were Harry's only family and she had none. Yet sometimes she thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know Harry. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word or even a glance in Andromeda's direction. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second they'd tried to get a closer look. Andromeda hoped for the least that Harry would be taken away to a better place, even if that left her alone to deal with the Dursley's. It was times when these strange people recognized Harry that she wished for him to be taken and happy, although part of her she knew would have greatly grieved the loss of her best and only friend.

At school, Harry and Andromeda had no one but each other. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses and that strange Andromeda Black with her changing looks, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Letters From No One

**Chapter 3 - The Letters From No One**

The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry and Andromeda their longest-ever punishment. By the time they were allowed out of their cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

Andromeda was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry Hunting.

This was why Harry and Andromeda spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around, joking and thinking about the end of the holidays, where they could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came they would both be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in their lives, they wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry and Andromeda, on the other hand, were going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry and Andromeda. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick." Then they both ran laughing, before Dudley could work out what Harry had said.

One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry and Andromeda at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let them watch television and gave them a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.

As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Andromeda didn't trust herself to speak. She thought two of her ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh and her hair had changed into a deep red, blending in with her face which had been reddening from holding her breath to stop from bursting out with a snort of laughter. Harry, too, looked as if he'd never seen anything funnier.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry and Andromeda went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. They glanced at each other and went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

This did nothing to help her upset stomach. Every month for as long as she could remember, she always became sick once a month. After figuring out it was always around the full moon, her and Harry often made jokes that she was related to a werewolf and that it was her genetics messing her up. Sometimes she even turned into a dog on the night of the full moon. She thought it was one of the coolest things ever, but it was a weird feeling waking up the next morning with four legs instead of two.

"What's this?" Harry asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.

"Your new school uniforms," she said.

Harry and Andromeda looked in the bowl again.

"Oh," Harry said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dying some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."

"Yeah, maybe if everyone looked like elephants," Andromeda snorted. "We'll fit right in with the zoo, I'm sure."

Aunt Petunia pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry and Andromeda's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.

They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."

Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail.

"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen after a minute. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.

Harry came back to the kitchen, staring at the pile of letters he held. He handed Uncle Vernon a bill and a postcard, passed Andromeda a yellowing envelope, sat down, and slowly began to open a yellow envelope of his own.

Andromeda stared at the letter in her hands. On the front it read:

Miss A. Black

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Andromeda stared at, awestruck. She had never, not once, received a letter. She hoped for a fraction of a second that it was her Uncle Moony or Uncle Wormy. What if they had finally found her and Harry?

Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.

"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk. -."

"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry and Andromeda's got something!"

Andromeda was on the point of unfolding her letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of her hand by Uncle Vernon, as was Harry's letter.

"That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch his back.

"Oi! Gimme it back!" Andromeda yelled, reaching across the table for it.

"Who'd be writing to you two?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letters open both in the one hand and glancing at them. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.

"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness - Vernon!"

They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry, Andromeda and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.

"I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."

"Give it back, Dursley," Andromeda said angrily.

"Get out, all of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letters back inside their envelopes.

Harry and Andromeda didn't move.

"I WANT MY LETTER!" they shouted in unison.

"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.

"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took Harry, Andromeda and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor. Andromeda joined Harry on the floor, making sure to push Dudley into the wall in the process.

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address - how could they possibly know where they sleep? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -"

Andromeda could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.

"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything...

"But -"

"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Let alone two! I won't have it! Didn't we swear when we took them in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry and Andromeda in their cupboard.

"Where's our letters?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door.

"Who's writing to us?" Andromeda demanded.

"No one. they were addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned them."

"It was not a mistake," said Andromeda angrily.

"It had our cupboard on it." Harry said.

"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.

"Er - yes, Harry - Andromeda - about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you two moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Why?" said Harry.

"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."

"Don't pretend to act nice, Dursley. It doesn't suit you," Andromeda said to him when he turned to walk out. He glared back at her before continuing on towards the kitchen.

The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry and Andromeda one trip upstairs to move everything they owned from the cupboard to this room. Andromeda sat down on the bed and stared around her. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbour's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.

Harry sat down next to her and sighed. "At least it's better than the cupboard, I guess."

"True," Andromeda said sadly. "But I didn't mind the cupboard. I just want my letter."

Harry laid his hand on hers on the bed and squeezed it. "Me too."

From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want them in there... I need that room... make them get out..."

Harry sighed again and stretched out on the bed and Andromeda fell back so she was laying down. Yesterday she'd have given anything to be up here. Today she'd rather be back in their cupboard with that letter than up here without it.

Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Andromeda was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing she'd tucked her letter away and opened it later. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.

When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry and Andromeda, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's more letters! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -"

With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry and Andromeda right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind and Andromeda was trying to trip their uncle up. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry and Andromeda's letter clutched in his hand.

"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry and Andromeda. "Dudley - go - just go."

Harry walked round and round his new room while Andromeda buried he face into their pillow and let out a muffle scream. Someone knew they had moved out of their cupboard and they seemed to know they hadn't received their first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time she'd make sure they didn't fail. Harry shared a plan with her to get the letters.

The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and they dressed silently. They mustn't wake the Dursleys. They stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.

They were going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. Andromeda's heart hammered as they crept across the dark hall toward the front door -

Harry suddenly leapt into the air and Andromeda looked down; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive!

Lights clicked on upstairs and to her horror Andromeda realized that the big, squashy something had been their uncle's face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry and Andromeda didn't do exactly what they'd been trying to do. He shouted at them for about half an hour and then told them to go and make a cup of tea. Harry and Andromeda shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time they got back to the hall, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Andromeda could see six letters addressed in green ink.

"I want -" Harry began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before their eyes. Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.

"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."

"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."

"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.

On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry and Andromeda. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.

Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.

On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry and Andromeda found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.

"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked them in amazement.

"No idea, pig. No idea," Andromeda said darkly, stabbing at her food and glaring at her aunt and uncle.

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.

"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -"

Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry and Andromeda leapt into the air trying to catch one.

"Out! OUT!"

Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall and Andromeda, after successfully catching one, ran to help Harry. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.

"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. He snatched the letter out of Andromeda's hands. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"

He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.

They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. "Shake'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.

They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.

Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley, Andromeda and Harry shared a room with three beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry and Andromeda stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars occasionally making small talk.

They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.

"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? And is there a Miss A. Black? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."

She held up two letters so they could read the green ink address:

Mr. H. Potter

Room 17

Railview Hotel

Cokeworth

Miss A. Black

Room 17

Railview Hotel

Cokeworth

Harry and Andromeda made a grab for the letters but Uncle Vernon knocked their hands out of the way. The woman stared.

"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.

"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.

"Only just figuring that out now, Dudley? He's been losing his marbles for years now," Andromeda said gruffly.

It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.

"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."

Monday. This reminded Andromeda of something. If it was Monday - and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television - then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday, and then that means that Thursday was her's. Of course, their birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given them a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day.

Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.

"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"

It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.

"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"

A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.

"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"

"Well, this is going to be just fun, eh, Harry?" Andromeda said sarcastically.

"Oh, for sure, Andy. It'll be the best day ever," Harry replied dryly, his lips twitching at the ends.

It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.

The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.

Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shrivelled up.

"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.

He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Andromeda privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer her up at all.

As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry and Andromeda were left to find the softest bit of floor they could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blankets.

The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry and Andromeda couldn't sleep. She shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable as Harry's stomach rumbled with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Andromeda that Harry would be eleven in ten minutes' time. Something which she told Harry. They counted down the minutes until he turned eleven.

Five minutes to go. Andromeda heard something creak outside. She hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although they might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that they'd be able to steal one somehow.

Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?

One minute to go and Harry would be eleven. Andromeda started counting down aloud and Harry smiled. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten... nine - maybe they'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him - three... two... one...

BOOM.

The whole shack shivered and Harry and Andromeda sat bolt upright, staring at each other and then at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Keeper of Keys

**Chapter 4 - The Keeper of Keys**

BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.

There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands - now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.

"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you - I'm armed!"

There was a pause. Then -

SMASH!

The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."

He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.

"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.

Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.

"An' here's Harry and 'Dromeda!" said the giant.

Harry and Andromeda looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

"Las' time I saw you two, you was only babies," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dads, but, Harry, yeh've got yet mom's eyes. An' you, 'Dromeda have yer dad's eyes o' course."

Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.

"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.

Andromeda snorted as Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.

"Anyway - Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written on it in green icing.

Harry looked up at the giant and said, "Who are you?"

The giant chuckled.

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.

"What the hell is a Hogwarts?" Andromeda muttered to Harry, who then shrugged.

"What about that tea then, eh?" the giant said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."

His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Andromeda felt the warmth wash over her as though she'd sunk into a hot bath.

The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."

The giant chuckled darkly.

"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."

Andromeda actually let out a laugh. The giant passed the sausages to Harry and Andromeda, who was so hungry she had never tasted anything so wonderful, but she still couldn't take her eyes off the giant.

Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, Harry said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."

The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."

"Er - no," said Andromeda.

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry," Harry said quickly.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all?"

"All what?" asked Harry.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"

He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy - this girl - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"

Andromeda thought this was going a bit far. She had been to school, after all, and her marks weren't bad. Neither were Harry's for that matter.

"I know some things," Harry said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."

But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."

"What world?"

Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.

"DURSLEY!" he boomed.

Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry and Andromeda.

"But yeh must know about yer mums and dads," he said. "I mean, they're famous. Harry, you're famous."

"What? My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?" Harry asked

"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally looking in between Harry and Andromeda.

Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.

"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sit! I forbid you to tell the boy and girl anything!"

A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.

"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"

"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.

"You never told 'Dromeda 'bout her mum? Or her dad even?"

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.

Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.

"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry – 'Dromeda - yer a witch an' wizard."

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.

"- a what?" gasped Harry.

"Did you just say 'witch'?!" Andromeda exclaimed.

"A witch an' wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' thumpin' good'uns, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With mums an' dads like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letters."

Harry and Andromeda stretched out their hands at last to take the yellowish envelopes, hers addressed in emerald green to Miss A. Black, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. She pulled out the letter and read:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Miss Black,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall,_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Questions exploded inside Andromeda's head like fireworks and she couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes she stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry and Andromeda could read upside down:

 _Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

 _Given Harry and Andromeda their letters._

 _Taking them to buy their things tomorrow._

 _Weather's horrible. Hope you're well._

 _Hagrid_

Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.

Andromeda realized her mouth was open and closed it quickly.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.

"They're not going," he said.

Hagrid grunted.

"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop 'em," he said.

"A what?" said Harry, interested.

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."

"We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of them! Witch and wizard indeed!"

"You knew?" said Andromeda. "You knew I'm a - a witch?"

"That I'm a wizard?" Harry said.

"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school-and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.

"She met that - that weird girl, Emily, she came over all the time on the holidays. Then she met that Potter at school and Emily met that Black boy and they all left and got married and had you two, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, they went and got themselves blown up and we got landed with you!"

Andromeda had gone very white. Harry seemed to have found his voice and he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"

"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter an' Emily Black? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"

"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.

The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.

"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."

He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.

"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..."

He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows -"

"Who?" Andromeda asked.

"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah -can't spell it. All right – Voldemort," Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.

"Now, yer mums an' dads were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day yours was, Harry! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.

"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. An' poor Emily was there with little 'Dromeda. You two was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an' -"

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mums an' dads, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway..."

"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too, Harry. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a Powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts - an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."

On the mention of the scar, Andromeda touched her forearm. Was that what happened to her? Did no one know? If her father was such a good wizard, why is he in jail? Questions roamed around her head.

When Hagrid's story came to a close, she saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than she had ever remembered it before - and she remembered something else, for the first time in her life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.

Hagrid was watching them sadly.

"Took yeh both from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot... Well I got yer from young Sirius Black, first. Mind, he didn't wanna give you two up, but I told him - I told him I was on orders from Dumbledore an' he handed yer both over."

"My dad?" Andromeda said.

"Landed himself in prison the next day, he did," Hagrid said, looking at Andromeda sadly. "He was a good wizard. Downright funny too, he was."

"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped next to Andromeda; she had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.

"Now, you listen here, boy, girl," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you two, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured - and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion - asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"

But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you - one more word... "

In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.

"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.

Harry and Andromeda, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.

"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?" Andromeda asked.

"Good question, 'Dromeda. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you, Harry. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see... he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?

"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.

"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - I dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."

Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes. Andromeda turned to look at Harry, who had a confused look on his face. She reached out and touched his arm, offering a smile when he looked at her. He smiled back.

"Hagrid," he said quietly, looking back at Hagrid, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."

To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.

"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"

Harry looked into the fire and Andromeda looked out of a window into the storm. Now she came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with them had happened when Harry and Andromeda, had been upset or angry... Andromeda changing appearances... Harry being chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... him dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't they got their revenge, without even realizing they were doing it? Hadn't they set a boa constrictor on him?

Harry and Andromeda looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at them.

"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts. An' I bet e'ry one will just love yeh, 'Dromeda."

But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.

"Haven't I told you they're not going?" he hissed. "They're going to Stonewall High and they'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and they need all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"

"If they wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop them," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts! An' Emily an' Sirius Black's daughter? Yer mad. Their name's been down ever since they was born. They're off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and they won't know themselves. They'll be with youngsters of their own sort, fer a change, an' they'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH THEM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.

But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN- FRONT- OF- ME!"

He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley - there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Andromeda saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers and burst out in fits of laughter.

Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.

Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.

"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."

Andromeda and Harry snorted at this.

Hagrid cast a sideways look at them under his bushy eyebrows.

"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job."

"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.

"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."

"Why were you expelled?" Andromeda inquired.

"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."

He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.

"Yous can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."


	5. Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley

**Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley**

Harry and Andromeda woke early the next morning. Although she could tell it was daylight, she kept her eyes shut tight.

"It was a dream," she thought to herself. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me and Harry that we were going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my room."

There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.

And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Andromeda thought, her heart sinking. But she still didn't open her eyes. It had been such a good dream.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"All right," Harry mumbled next to her, "I'm getting up."

She sighed, opened her eyes and sat up. Hagrid's heavy coat fell off her and Harry. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.

Harry scrambled to his feet. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.

"Don't do that." Andromeda tried waving the bird off, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.

"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl."

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.

"What?"

"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.

"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.

"Knuts?"

"The little bronze ones."

Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.

Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.

"Best be off, you two, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."

Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. Andromeda looked at them and slouched over.

"Um - Hagrid?" Harry said.

"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.

"We haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night ... he won't pay for us to go and learn magic." Andromeda said.

"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"But if their house was destroyed -"

"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."

"Wizards have banks?"

"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."

Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.

"Goblins?" Andromeda said, stunned.

"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see.

"Got everythin'? Come on, then."

Harry and Andromeda followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. "Flew," said Hagrid.

"Flew?"

"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."

They settled down in the boat, Andromeda still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.

"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry and Andromeda another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"

"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.

"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.

"Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the highsecurity vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."

Andromeda sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. She and Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, she'd never had so many questions in his life.

"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.

"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked.

"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."

"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"

"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."

"Why?"

"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."

At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.

Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Andromeda couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry, 'Dromeda? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"

"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"

"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."

"You'd like one?"

"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."

"If I could, I would totally get a dragon," Andromeda said, turning and smiling at Harry. She slugged at his arm. "Could you imagine?"

"I can imagine dying of fire, sure," Harry chuckled.

They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry and Andromeda so they could buy their tickets.

People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.

"Still got yer letter, you two?" he asked as he counted stitches. Harry and Andromeda took the parchment envelope out of their pockets.

"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."

They unfolded a second piece of paper they hadn't noticed the night before, and read:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _UNIFORM_

 _First-year students will require:_

 _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

 _COURSE BOOKS_

 _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _wand cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set_

 _glass or crystal phials_

 _telescope set_

 _brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.

"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.

Harry and Andromeda had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.

"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.

Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry and Andromeda had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Andromeda hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, she might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told them so far was unbelievable, Andromeda couldn't help trusting him. Screw the "stranger danger" rubbish.

"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."

It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Andromeda wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Andromeda had the most peculiar feeling that only she, Harry and Hagrid could see it. Before she could mention this, Hagrid had steered them inside.

For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry and Andromeda's shoulders and making their knees buckle.

"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"

The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.

"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honor."

He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."

Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming. Andromeda rolled her eyes. Not even five second in a place and already there were people looking.

Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron. Andromeda stood awkwardly to the side invisible to everyone.

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."

"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."

"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."

"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."

"I've seen you before!" said Harry and looked around and smiled warmly at Andromeda when his eyes met hers, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."

"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again - Doris Crockford kept coming back for more. Andromeda snorted at this and wiggled her eyebrows to which Harry blushed and poked his tongue out at her before they erupted into a fit of laughter.

A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, 'Dromeda, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."

"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked.

"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.

But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.

"Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, you two."

Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.

Hagrid grinned at Harry.

"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

"Is he always that nervous?" Andromeda asked.

"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag - never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"

Vampires? Hags? Andromeda's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.

"Three up... two across he muttered. "Right, stand back."

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.

The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

He grinned at Harry and Andromeda's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Andromeda looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."

Andromeda wished she had about eight more eyes. She turned her head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy.

"Look, Andy," Harry said, grabbing her hand and pointing it towards a bunch of cats in the shop. "Bet you'll want one of those, huh?"

Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Andromeda heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Andromeda had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...

"Gringotts," said Hagrid.

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -

"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than both Harry and Andromeda. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Andromeda noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.

"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe. An' some outta Miss Andromeda Black's vault, too."

"You have his key, Sir?"

"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Andromeda watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.

"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.

The goblin looked at it closely.

"That seems to be in order."

"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the YouKnow-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully.

"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to all vaults. Griphook!"

"Wait, what about the key to my vault?" Andromeda asked. Thoughts ran through her head. What if she didn't have any money?

"Don't need a key for it," Hagrid said simply.

Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he, Andromeda and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.

"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Griphook held the door open for them. Andromeda, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.

At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Andromeda tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.

Andromeda's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but she kept them wide open. Once, she thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late - - they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Griphook unlocked the door to the vault labelled "six hundred and eighty-seven". A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid.

All Harry's - it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.

Hagrid and Andromeda helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.

"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and eleven now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only," said Griphook.

They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Andromeda leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled her back by the scruff of her neck.

Vault seven hundred and eleven had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.

This had to be a high-security vault, and Andromeda realized, this had to be hers. Hagrid's business was with vault seven hundred and thirteen, not seven hundred and eleven.

"Only Miss Black is allowed in this one, I'm afraid," Griphook said.

Andromeda looked from Harry to Hagrid and then to Griphook. She took a step into the vault and looked around. It was her turn to gasp now. There were huge piles of coins and objects, much more than what was in Harry's vault. She looked around and saw something that caught her eye.

On her right, was an envelope with her name on it. She picked it up and turned it over. It had no other words on it. Only her name. She looked at where she had picked the envelope up from and saw a small pile of stuffed toys consisting of a black dog, a wolf, a stag, and a rat. There was also a blanket with the same animals on it running through the woods. She picked up a worn out leather bag that was lying down on the floor and put the toys, blanket and the envelope inside. There were more things in the pile she regarded as hers. She picked up a silver locket and chain and opened it. What she found inside it made her want to cry and smile at the same time. On one side was a picture of her mother, and on the other was her father. She was sure it was them. She remembered them. She put that, too, into the bag.

Then she went over to another pile and started filling her bag with different coins before returning to Harry, Hagrid and Griphook. They walked this time to the next vault which was not too far from her own.

Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Andromeda was sure, and she leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least - but at first she thought it was empty. Then she noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Andromeda longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.

"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.

One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Andromeda didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. She didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that she was holding more money than she'd had in her whole life - more money than even Dudley had ever had.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, 'Dromeda, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry and Andromeda entered Madam Malkin's shop, feeling nervous.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dears?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. Andromeda stood on another stool next to Harry's and another witch rushed to her side, slipping a robe over her head.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to took at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Andromeda was strongly reminded of Dudley. She knew she wasn't going to like this boy too much.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Harry and Andromeda in unison.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Andromeda said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.

"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry, while Andromeda was thinking, _hopefully not the same as yours_.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," said Andromeda, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.

"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and Andromeda and pointing at three large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Andromeda, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.

"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.

"Oh, sorry," said the other,. not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."

"And yours?" the boy asked Andromeda.

"Not that it is your business, but yes, my parents were a witch and wizard." Andromeda said.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. Andromeda was finished, too and hopped down from her stool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.

Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts). Andromeda, on the other hand, was talking rather fast and excitedly about all the things she had seen.

"What's up?" said Hagrid to Harry and Andromeda stopped talking immediately, wanting to know what was wrong.

"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!"

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pate boy in Madam Malkin's.

"-and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in."

"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were - he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles - look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

"So what is Quidditch?" Andromeda asked.

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like - like soccer in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules."

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but -"

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff" said Harry gloomily.

"Nah, you're not that bad," Andromeda nudged Harry in the ribs. "For what it's worth, I hope that boy is put there just to see him suffer."

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

"Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" Andromeda asked.

"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.

They bought their school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian. It was like a wonderful dream to Andromeda. She always enjoyed reading.

"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley," Harry said as they walked away from the books about curses.

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

Hagrid wouldn't let Harry and Andromeda buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry and Andromeda, they themselves examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked their list again.

"Just yer wand left - A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

Harry felt himself go red.

"You don't have to -"

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell. While they were there, Hagrid also bought a black kitten for Andromeda for her birthday that would be in a couple of days. She, too, couldn't refrain from thanking him.

"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly to them. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."

A magic wand... this was what Andromeda had been really looking forward to.

The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Andromeda felt strangely as though she had entered a very strict library; she swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to her and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of her neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry and Andromeda jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly. Andromeda waved.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.

"And that's where..."

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."

He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.

"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Andromeda suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between Harry's nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -"

Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious..."

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious.."

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – two others, actually. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar."

Harry swallowed.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."

Andromeda shivered. Ollivander turned to her and fixed her with a pale stare.

"Ah, yes, Andromeda Black, you do look just like your father," Ollivander said. "Another great wand sold to him."

He then measured Andromeda the same way he did Harry and let out a "Ha!"

He disappeared behind the shelves and came back with a wand, handing it to her. She immediately felt warmth spread through her fingers, heating her whole body.

"Twelve-a-half-inches, ebony, phoenix feather, supple flexibility," Ollivander said.

Andromeda waved it and sparks shot out of the end, bouncing off the walls.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Ollivander said. "This is the one for you. Also curious."

"Why is this one curious?" Andromeda said.

"Well, because, my dear, the core in this wand just so happens to be the last of the three phoenix feathers used in both yours and Mr. Potter's wands."

With that said, Harry and Andromeda paid seven galleons each and they left the store.

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry, Andromeda and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. They didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; Andromeda didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap and a black cat purring in a cage in hers. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Andromeda only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped her on the shoulder.

"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.

He bought Harry and Andromeda a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Andromeda kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow, more mundane.

"You all right, you two? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.

Andromeda didn't know how to quite explain it. It had been the best day of her life, but she now thought of her wand and its connection with Voldemort. She thought of the things from her vault sitting in the bottom of her bag. She thought of Harry, who was famous as it turns out and how she hoped he had had the best birthday.

"Everyone thinks I'm special," Harry said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."

Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.

"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."

Hagrid helped Harry and Andromeda on to the train that would take them back to the Dursleys, then handed them envelopes.

"Yer tickets fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yeh soon, Harry, 'Dromeda."

The train pulled out of the station. Andromeda and Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; they rose in his seat and pressed their noses against the window, but they blinked and Hagrid had gone.


	6. Chapter 6 - Journey From Platform 934

**Chapter 6 - The Journey From Patform Nine and Three Quarters**

Harry and Andromeda's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of them he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry and Andromeda in their cupboard, force them to do anything, or shout at them - in fact, they didn't speak to them at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chairs with Harry or Andromeda in them were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.

As soon as they had gotten home Andromeda had rushed to their room and taken the toys, blanket and envelope out of her bag. She hadn't opened the envelope yet, but every night her and Harry slept with the toys and the blanket. She felt as if it was what kept her sane; her blanket and stuffed animals from her parents. She thought it was the only thing she had left of them. She wore her locket everywhere, nearly never removing out of fear that it would disappear and she would never be able to see her parents again.

Harry and Andromeda kept to their room, with their new owl and cat for company. Andromeda had decided to call her cat Midnight. Harry had decided to call his owl Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic. Their school books were very interesting. They both lay on their bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased and Midnight crawling all over them. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before they went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first while Andromeda made sure that both pets were eating the mice.

On the last day of August they thought they'd better speak to their aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so they both went down to the living room where the Dursley's were watching a quiz show on television. Harry cleared his throat to let them know he and Andromeda were there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.

"Er - Uncle Vernon?" Harry said.

Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.

"Er - We need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to - to go to Hogwarts."

Uncle Vernon grunted again.

"Would it be all right if you gave us a lift?"

Grunt. Andromeda supposed that meant yes.

"Thank you."

They were about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

Harry and Andromeda didn't say anything.

"Where is this school, anyway?"

"I don't know," said Andromeda, realizing this for the first time. She pulled the ticket Hagrid had given her out of her pocket.

"We just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," she read.

Her aunt and uncle stared.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters."

"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."

"It's on our tickets," Harry said.

"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."

"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.

"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."

Harry and Andromeda woke at five o'clock the next morning and were too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. They lay there for a while chatting about what they could expect to see. They got up and pulled on their jeans because they didn't want to walk into the station in their wizard's robes - they'd change on the train. They checked their Hogwarts list yet again to make sure they had everything they needed, saw that Hedwig and Midnight were shut safely in their cages, packed all other things they wanted to take with them, and then talked more, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry and Andromeda's huge, heavy trunks had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry with Andromeda between Harry and the car door, and they had set off.

Andromeda had red hair today, hoping she looked more like her mother. She hadn't bothered changing her other features, so she did still look like her dad.

They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped the trunks onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for them. Andromeda thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.

"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine - platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"

He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.

"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry and Andromeda turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. Andromeda's mouth went rather dry. What on earth were they going to do? They were starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. They'd have to ask someone.

They stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry or Andromeda couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry and Andromeda were being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Andromeda was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, they had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and they had no idea how to do it; they were stranded in the middle of a station with trunks they could hardly lift, a pocket and bag full of wizard money, a cat, and a large owl.

Hagrid must have forgotten to tell them something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. She wondered if she should get out her wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.

At that moment a group of people passed just behind them and she caught a few words of what they were saying.

"- packed with Muggles, of course -"

Harry and Andromeda swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry and Andromeda's in front of them - and they had an owl.

Heart hammering, Andromeda pushed her and Harry's shared cart after them, Harry just behind her. The group stopped and so did they, just near enough to hear what they were saying.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go... "

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry and Andromeda watched, careful not to blink in case they missed it - but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone - but how had he done it?

Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there - and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

There was nothing else for it.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.

"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

"Yes," said Andromeda. "The thing is - the thing is, we don't know how to -"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry and Andromeda nodded.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er - okay," said Harry.

Andromeda pushed their trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.

They started to walk toward it together. People jostled them on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry and Andromeda walked more quickly. They were going to smash right into that barrier and then they'd be in trouble - leaning forward on their cart, Andromeda broke into a heavy run, Harry next to her - the barrier was coming nearer and nearer - they wouldn't be able to stop - the cart was out of control - they were a foot away - she closed her eyes ready for the crash -

It didn't come... she kept on running... she opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Andromeda looked behind her at Harry and then even further behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. They had done it.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry grabbed the cart from Andromeda and pushed the cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat, Andromeda right behind him, holding onto the back of his shirt so she didn't lose him. They passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," they heard the old woman sigh.

A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.

"Give us a look, Lee, go on."

The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.

Harry and Andromeda pressed on through the crowd until they found a nearly empty compartment near the end of the train. After asking if they could sit with them, they put Hedwig and Midnight inside first and then started to shove and heave their trunks toward the train door. They tried to lift them up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice Harry dropped his painfully on his foot.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins they'd followed through the barrier.

"Yes, please," Harry panted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins' help, Harry and Andromeda's trunks were at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.

"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you?"

"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter, "chorused the twins.

"Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."

Andromeda snorted and Harry elbowed her in the ribs.

The two boys gawked at him, and Harry started turning red. Then, to their relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom."

With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

Harry and Andromeda sat down next to the window where, half hidden, they could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.

"Mom - geroff" He wriggled free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said their mother.

"He's coming now."

The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Andromeda noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves -"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once -"

"Or twice -"

"A minute -"

"All summer -"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.

"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term - send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.

"Now, you two - this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've - you've blown up a toilet or -"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."

"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."

"It's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking, Andromeda, however stayed still.

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

Andromeda heard the little girl's voice.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, eh please..."

Andromeda wiggled her eyes at Harry who shook his head, lips twitching.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."

"Poor dear - no wonder they weren't with any adults, I wondered. He and that girl were ever so polite when they asked how to get onto the platform."

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother suddenly became very stern.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."

"All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, Mom."

The train began to move. Andromeda saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.

Harry and Andromeda watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Andromeda felt a great leap of excitement. She didn't know what she was going to but it had to be better than what she was leaving behind.

The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry and Andromeda. "Everywhere else is full."

Harry and Andromeda looked towards the other people in the carriage who shrugged. Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Andromeda saw he still had a black mark on his nose.

"Hey, Ron."

The twins were back.

"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother."

They all looked towards Andromeda expectantly and a moment later Andromeda coughed and said, "Oh, right - er, I'm Andromeda."

"Cool. See you later, then."

"Bye," said Harry, Andromeda and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.

Harry nodded.

"Oh -well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got - you know..."

He pointed at Harry's forehead. Andromeda pulled the sleeve down over her left hand, covering her forearm.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who

"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.

"Well - I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

"Are you first years, too, then?" one of the other occupants asked. She was a fair-skinned girl with light brown hair and green eyes. Next to her was a blond haired, blue eyed boy with a kind face. They were both already in their robes.

Andromeda nodded.

"I'm Dorcas Lupin," she said. "And this is Noah Pettigrew."

The boy, Noah, waved and gave them a sheepish smile.

Andromeda sat dazed for a second and caught Harry's eyes. Dorcas and Noah. Those were two of the names she remembered from when she was a baby. She shook it off. Maybe it wasn't them.

"I'm Andromeda," Andromeda said. She then gestured to Harry and Ron. "And this is Harry and Ron."

Dorcas and Noah waved at them.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, turning to Ron.

"Er - Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you must know loads of magic already."

The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.

"What about, you two?" Andromeda asked Dorcas and Noah. They both nodded.

"Yeah," Noah said. "My parents were both a witch and wizard. Dorcas' dad is a wizard, too, and her mum was a witch."

"Were?"

Noah and Dorcas just gave small, sad smiles.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"

"Horrible -well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

Andromeda didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, be she and Harry had never had any money in their lives until a month ago, and she told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"... and until Hagrid told us, we didn't know anything about being a witch or wizard or about our parents or Voldemort."

Ron gasped.

"What?" said Harry.

"She said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed.

"What, Voldemort?" Harry said. Ron gasped again.

"I'd have thought you, of all people -"

"Oh, Ron," Dorcas said, shaking her head. "It's just a bloody name."

"We're not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "We just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough," Andromeda said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Plus, I know just as much as you do. We can suck at magic together."

Harry smiled at her feebly. Ron's head shot up to look at her suddenly.

"Wait a minute. You were with Harry, where are your parents?" he said.

"Uh - my mum's dead and my dad is in jail, so I live with Harry and his family," Andromeda's hair went purple with embarrassment. She wasn't embarrassed of her parents, but Ron was now looking at her with pity.

"Wow!" Noah exclaimed. "Your hair!"

"What about it?" Andromeda asked. "Can't you do it?"

"No," Dorcas said. "You're a metamorphmagus. They're really rare!"

"Oh," Andromeda said. She shrugged. "Cool... What is a metamorphmagus, exactly?"

"Witches and wizards who can change their appearance," Ron explained. "What do you really look like?"

Andromeda looked at Harry and turned her hair black. Ron gasped.

"What?" Andromeda asked.

"You look like Sirius Black!" Noah said. "He's this famous criminal."

"What did he do?" Andromeda asked. She didn't know what was so bad that he did. If she was going to tell anyone that he was her father, she wanted to know what he did.

"He only killed like a dozen people," Dorcas said, frowning. "He's a high-security prisoner in Azkaban. That's a wizard prison, by the way. He used to serve Voldemort."

"Oh," Andromeda's heart sunk. There go her chances of making friends. Harry gripped her hand and offered her a smile. She was too busy thinking to change her hair back.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry and Andromeda, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to their feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Dorcas and Noah shook their heads. Harry and Andromeda went out into the corridor.

They had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that they had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as they could carry - but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Andromeda had never seen in her life. Not wanting to miss anything, they both got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts each.

Ron, Dorcas and Noah stared as Harry and Andromeda brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto the seat in between Ron and Dorcas empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

"Absolutely famished," Andromeda said, digging into the Cauldron Cakes.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on -"

"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. Andromeda shoved her pasties into Dorcas and Noah's hands.

It was a nice feeling. Laughing and eating candy together, Ron's sandwiches lay forgotten.

"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?"

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know - Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect - famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Harry and Andromeda unwrapped a Chocolate Frog each and picked up the card. Harry's showed a man's face. He wore half- moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa - thanks

Harry turned over his card and read:

 _ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

 _CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_

 _Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to Andromeda's astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."

Harry shrugged and passed it to Andromeda. Andromeda took it and then looked at her own card. It showed a young dark skinned girl with brown hair and eyes. Her description read:

 _GWENOG JONES_

 _Captain and Beater of the all-female national Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies._

"I got Gwenog Jones," Andromeda said.

"Cool," Ron said. "My little sister Ginny is obsessed with her."

"Ooh!" Dorcas exclaimed. "I got Donaghan Tremlett!"

"Who?" Harry asked.

"He's the bassist to the Weird Sisters!" Noah said. When all he received was blank stares from Harry and Andromeda, he said, "They're a wizard band."

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.

"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!"

They all continued going through the Chocolate Frogs. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon both Andromeda and Harry had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. Andromeda finally tore her eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Andromeda. "When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger- flavoured one once."

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.

"Bleaaargh - see? Sprouts."

They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper. Andromeda got chocolate, egg, dirt, watermelon and lemon. Dorcas and Noah refused to eat any of the beans, shuddering and muttering about a bad experience and went on to eating the Liquorice Wands.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry and Andromeda had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Harry.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."

He left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway..."

He had just raised his 'wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er - all right."

He cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

She said all this very fast.

Harry and Andromeda looked at Ron, and were relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Dorcas Lupin, Noah Pettigrew, and that over there is Andromeda," Dorcas said.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books. for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell - George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"She didn't seem that bad!" Dorcas said. "Maybe she's just a bit excited."

"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry said.

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"

Andromeda, too, was wondering what a witch or wizard did once they'd finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah stared.

"Really? What happened to them?" Dorcas inquired.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

Andromeda turned this news over in her mind. She was starting to get a prickle of fear every time Voldemort was mentioned. She supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Oh, well I read some books and about some games, and I suppose I like Puddlemere United," Andromeda said.

"Mine is Puddlemere, too!" Noah said, excitedly.

"Mine is definitely the Holyhead Harpies," Dorcas said. "They're amazing!"

"Er - I don't know any," Harry confessed.

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world -" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking everyone through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Three boys entered, and Andromeda recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. Andromeda was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford. And what about the rest of you?"

"Dorcas Lupin," said Dorcas. Malfoy frowned at her.

"Noah Pettigrew," Noah said.

"Andromeda," Andromeda said.

"Andromeda, what?" Malfoy asked.

"I don't think that is any of your bloody business," said Andromeda coolly.

He sneered at her and turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys, a Lupin and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Everyone stood up.

"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Andromeda, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than any of them.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron - Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle - Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to them. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep-"

And so he had.

"You've met Malfoy before?"

Harry and Andromeda explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family," said Dorcas darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

Ron turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left. Andromeda peered out of the window. It was getting dark. She could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.

The five of them took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them. Dorcas and Noah's looked a bit worn out and old.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Andromeda's stomach lurched with nerves and grabbed Harry's hand when she saw that he was starting to look twitchy. Ron, she saw, looked pale under his freckles. Dorcas and Noah were talking fast with nerves. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Andromeda shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Andromeda heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry, 'Dromeda?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n five to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron all stepped into one of the boats.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Sorting Hat

**Chapter 7 - The Sorting Hat**

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Andromeda's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Andromeda could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Beside Andromeda, Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair. She snorted softly at this.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber.

"Do you reckon she'll have a fit if I turn my hair blue?" Andromeda joked.

"Don't do it," Dorcas said. She smiled at Andromeda. "I like your black hair."

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Andromeda's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But she didn't know any magic yet - what on earth would she have to do? She hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. She looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. Andromeda tried hard not to listen to her. She'd never been more nervous, never, not even when she'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that she'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. She kept her eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead her to her doom.

"Don't worry. Dorcas' dad says, they sort you into your house with a hat," Noah said. "I just hope I'm in Gryffindor like he was."

Then something happened that made her jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed.

"What the -?"

She gasped. So did the people around her. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Andromeda got in line behind Dorcas, who was behind Noah. Harry got into line behind Andromeda, holding her hand tightly, with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Andromeda had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Andromeda looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. She heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

Andromeda quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.

Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Andromeda thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing - noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, she stared at it, too, still gripping Harry's hand. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

 _"_ _Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _if you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Andromeda smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but she did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Andromeda didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for her.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

"Wait," Andromeda whispered, turning towards Harry. "She says your last name?"

"What is your last name, by the way?" Noah whispered to her. "You never did tell us."

She ignored him. Harry turned to her and squeezed her hand, offering her a smile. She looked back to the front.

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment pause -

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Andromeda saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Black, Andromeda!"

Andromeda stubbled out of line, her hand leaving Harry's. Whispers erupted throughout the Hall.

"Black? As in Sirius Black?"

"I do not want a murderer's daughter in my house."

"Probably going to be just like her father."

Andromeda reached the stool and shakily sat down. Professor McGonagall set the hat on her head and all she could think about at that moment was "don't you bloody dare put me in Slytherin."

"Not Slytherin, eh?" the hat said and Andromeda almost jumped a mile. "You would do your family proud, all of the Black family have been in Slytherin after all. Your father wasn't, however, what a stubborn chap he was, and the first Black Gryffindor, too! Your mother, too, was in Gryffindor. I remember sorting her, such a kind soul.

"You do have all the traits of a Slytherin, however, but also Ravenclaw, an even, might I add, Hufflepuff. My, my, where to put you, maybe in - GRYFFINDOR!"

He shouted the last word and Andromeda beamed as one of the tables clapped loudly. She went and joined them, sitting next to Fred and George Weasley.

"Are you really Sirius Black's daughter?" they asked. She nodded and the said, "Cool!"

Andromeda looked at them weirdly.

She could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest her sat Hagrid, who caught her eye and gave her the thumbs up. Andromeda grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Andromeda recognized him at once from the card Harry had gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Andromeda spotted Professor Quirtell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

" Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the next Gryffindor addition and she went and sat in the farthest spare seat away from Andromeda. Andromeda deflated a bit. Not everyone could like her, she guessed.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Andromeda's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but she thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Andromeda noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," a sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

She beamed and sat down near Andromeda.

A horrible thought struck Andromeda, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if Harry wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train? Andromeda didn't want to think of a life without Harry in it every day.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "Lupin, Dorcas."

Andromeda watch eagerly with her fingers crossed and let out a loud cheer when the hat declared her a Gryffindor. She sat down next to Hermione and across from Andromeda.

"MacDougal, Morag!" then became a Slytherin.

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, "Pettigrew, Noah!"

Noah took a few moments before the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Andromeda and Dorcas clapped loudly and cheered as he joined them and taking a seat next to Dorcas.

And, finally, "Potter, Harry!"

Andromeda sucked in a breath and waited, more nervous than she was for he own sorting.

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

Andromeda anxiously waited until -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She stood up and cheered and clapped loudly. Everyone else along the Gryffindor table cheered loudly, too. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down between Andromeda and the ghost with the ruff that they had seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm and he shivered.

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined them at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Andromeda crossed her fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah all clapped loudly with the rest of Gryffindor as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously next to Noah as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Andromeda looked down at her empty gold plate. She had only just realized how hungry she was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Andromeda didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he - a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Andromeda's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of them were now piled with food. She had never seen so many things she liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry and Andromeda, but she'd never been allowed to eat as much as she liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry and Andromeda really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat, while Andromeda buried her plate in bacon and steak and fries. It tasted delicious.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you -?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you - you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy -" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."

Andromeda looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Andromeda was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding -

As Andromeda started piling some chocolate cake onto her plate, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

The others laughed.

"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all- Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me - he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned - but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced - all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here - they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

Andromeda, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Harry did too. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight towards them, catching their eyes - and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Andromeda's forearm.

"Ouch!" Andromeda held onto her forearm with her other hand while Harry clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Percy them.

"N-nothing."

The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Andromeda had gotten from the teacher's look - a feeling that he didn't like Andromeda and Harry at all.

Harry looked at Andromeda worriedly. She muttered, "We'll talk about it later."

He nodded.

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Andromeda watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at her again.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah laughed, but they were some of the few who did.

"He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

 _"_ _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

 _Teach us something please,_

 _Whether we be old and bald_

 _Or young with scabby knees,_

 _Our heads could do with filling_

 _With some interesting stuff,_

 _For now they're bare and full of air,_

 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

 _So teach us things worth knowing,_

 _Bring back what we've forgot,_

 _just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

 _And learn until our brains all rot._

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins and Andromeda were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest while Andromeda laughed along with the twins.

"Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Andromeda's legs were like lead again, but only because she was so tired and full of food. She was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Andromeda was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves - show yourself"

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and Andromeda bid Dorcas goodnight, pulling out her toys and blanket.

She curled herself up on her bed, happy that she was no longer at the Dursley's house. She did feel weird, though, this would be the first night since living with the Dursleys that she didn't have Harry next to her, which she had always found comforting.

It took a while for her to fall asleep on her own and when she did, she dreamed of four animals roaming around the forest.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Potions Master

**Chapter 8 - The Potions Master**

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to that Black girl."

"Wearing the glasses?"

"Did you see his face?"

"Did you see his scar?"

"Why'd reckon he's hanging out with her for?"

Whispers followed Harry from the moment they left the common room. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Andromeda wished they wouldn't, because they were trying to concentrate on finding their way to classes and because he wasn't a zoo animal.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Andromeda was sure the coats of armour could walk.

The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

Andromeda thought he was downright hilarious most of the time, which was an unpopular opinion. Andromeda had received her very first detentions from Professor McGonagall because she was caught helping Peeves stick the furniture to the History of Magic room on the roof. She had to spend two hours every night with Professor McGonagall cleaning classrooms. Quite often, teachers, especially Professor McGonagall, commented on how alike she and her father were.

Andromeda had taken a liking to Professor McGonagall, and, much to her Professor's dismay, started calling her "Minnie" or "Minnie McGee." The first few times she had called the teacher this, Andromeda had lost points from Gryffindor, but the Professor gave in when Andromeda didn't cease the nicknames, and only scowls at her when she says them now.

Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.

Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick, something Andromeda had added to her bucket-list.

And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Andromeda quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.

They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for.

Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. If Andromeda could describe their Charm's teacher, it would be that he was easily befuddled.

During their first Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall, she dove straight into a speech.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger and Andromeda had made any difference to their matches; Professor McGonagall showed the class how they had both gone all silver and pointy and gave Andromeda and Hermione a rare smile.

The rule McGonagall had about messing around in her class was probably supposed to be taken seriously, but that didn't stop Andromeda from making herself look like other students or animals, however once when McGonagall had arrived to class late from a meeting to find Andromeda looking exactly like McGonagall and teaching the class the best ways to prank a Slytherin, she let an involuntary smile appear on her face and only added one detention onto Andromeda's long list of detentions.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

Andromeda was very relieved to find out that she and Harry weren't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like them, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.

Friday was an important day for Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them - we'll be able to see if it's true."

Andromeda banged her head repeatedly on the table at the mention of Snape and the Slytherins. Harry put a hand on the table so when she banged her head down, it landed on his hand.

"Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.

"Speak for yourself," Andromeda said. "I think Minnie absolutely loves me, I reckon."

"Oh, so that's why she's taken like fifty points from you and it's only the first week. Forgive me for not realizing sooner," Harry said dryly as their friends snorted into their breakfast.

"Oh shush," Andromeda said. "You're just jealous you don't share the connection we have."

Harry snorted, "If by connection you mean you scrubbing floors while she watches, then sure."

Just then, the mail arrived. Andromeda had gotten used to this by now, but it had given her a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once and Andromeda read over his shoulder. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:

 _Dear Harry and Andromeda,_

 _I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?_

 _I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig._

 _Hagrid_

Harry borrowed Dorcas' quill, scribbled _Yes, please, see you later_ on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.

It was lucky that Harry and Andromeda had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to them so far.

At the start-of-term banquet, Andromeda had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked them both. By the end of the first Potions lesson, she knew she'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry and Andromeda - he hated them.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call.

"Ah, Andromeda Black," he sneered. "Hogwarts' new arrogant troublemaker."

"Yes, well it isn't very nice to meet you either, Professor," Andromeda said coolly.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Black."

Andromeda rolled her eyes as Snape continued on with the roll. He paused when he got to Harry's name.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."

Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Harry, Dorcas, Noah, Ron and Andromeda exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron and Noah, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione, Dorcas, and Andromeda's hand had shot into the air.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."

He ignored the three girl's hands.

"Let's try again. Pettigrew, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, and Dorcas and Andromeda's hands were still in the air. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.

"I don't know, sir," Noah said.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"

Andromeda glared at Snape. Harry had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?

Snape was still ignoring the three girl's quivering hands.

"What is the difference, Lupin, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this question, Dorcas looked towards the ground and put her hand down and shook her head.

"Potter! What is the name of the luck potion that takes six months to brew?"

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

A few people laughed; Harry caught Andromeda's eye and she winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Something you, Lupin, should have known. And the luck potion is called Felix Felicis or Liquid Luck. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus' cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Andromeda, who had been working next to Neville.

"You - Black - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

"Yes, because we're supposed to be paying attention to Neville's potion instead of our own, right?" Andromeda retorted. "You should have told us that, sir. How foolish of us."

"Black! Ten points from Gryffindor for that," Snape snapped.

"You know, Gryffindor has shampoo as well," Andromeda commented coolly. "Would you like to talk some of that from us, too? Might be beneficial for you."

Next to her, Harry snorted into their cauldron.

"Detention tonight Black, Potter, here at eight o'clock," Snape said, baring his teeth.

"Can't sorry professor, I already have a detention with Professor McGonagall. All of next week, too."

"Then after that."

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Andromeda's mind was racing and her spirits were low. She'd landed Harry in his first detention.

"Cheer up," said Ron to her, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"

At five to three Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.

When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang - back."

Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.

"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."

He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.

There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Dorcas and started licking her ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.

"This is Ron, Dorcas and Noah," Andromeda told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest." said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. Then he turned to the other four. "An' don't even get me started of the four of yer fathers."

The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but they pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.

They were delighted to hear Hagrid call Fitch "that old git."

"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her - Fitch puts her up to it."

Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid assured them that Snape seemed to hate all students and to not take it personally.

"But he seemed to really hate us four."

"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"

Yet Andromeda couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet anyone's eyes when he said that.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot - great with animals."

Andromeda wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy and Andromeda read over his shoulder. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:

 _GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

 _Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown._

 _Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

 _"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon._

Andromeda remembered Ron telling them on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.

"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet anyone's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry and Andromeda went back and read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?

As they all walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Andromeda thought that none of the lessons she'd had so far had given her as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell them? Andromeda continued thinking about it well past her detention and into the night.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Midnight Duel

**Chapter 9 - The Midnight Duel**

Andromeda had never believed she would meet a boy she hated more than Dudley, but that was before she met Draco Malfoy.

Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday - and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

Andromeda knew he had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else. She did, too.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.

Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book - not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages. Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.

Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, except for one time Andromeda sent him a note so that he wouldn't look so down about it. Harry and Andromeda not receiving anything was something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.

Dorcas and Noah occasionally received letters from Dorcas' father which was something that cheered both of them up immensely.

This morning, however, when Dorcas' tawny owl, Stuffy, flew into the hall, it was holding an extra letter for Andromeda. She took it from a confused-looking Dorcas and stuffed it in her robes so she could open it later.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things - this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red - oh..." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "You've forgotten something..."

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

"Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"He's pure evil, Minnie," Andromeda said to her Professor. "Pure bloody evil."

At three-thirty that afternoon, the Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Andromeda had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Andromeda glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"'

"UP," everyone shouted.

Harry and Andromeda's brooms jumped into their hands at once, but they were of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Andromeda; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. The Gryffindors were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Andromeda saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and -

WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get.".

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Andromeda yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it!"

Harry grabbed his broom and Andromeda kicked off the ground, steadying it when she got near Malfoy. She found in these quick seconds that she liked flying. Liked the wind against her face and the freedom she felt off the ground.

"No!" shouted Hermione Granger to Harry. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble."

Harry ignored her. He mounted his broom and kicked off. He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.

"Give it here," Andromeda called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.

Andromeda knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Andromeda made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," she called.

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.

"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

Andromeda saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down - next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball - wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching - he stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

At the same time, Andromeda shot towards Malfoy, who barely moved out of the way in time. He shot a spell towards her and she dodged it, weaving around some of the buildings and turned around and joined Harry of the grass, landing softly when she saw that he had landed.

"HARRY POTTER! ANDROMEDA BLACK!"

Her heart sank faster than it ever had before. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. She helped Harry to his feet, trembling.

"Never - in all my time at Hogwarts -"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "- how dare you - might have broken your neck -"

"It wasn't their fault, Professor -"

"Be quiet, Miss Lupin."

"But Malfoy -"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, Black, follow me, now."

Andromeda caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as they left and gave them a rude hand gesture, then walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. They were going to be expelled, she just knew it. She wanted to say something to defend Harry and get him out of trouble, but there seemed to be something wrong with her voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at them; they had to jog to keep up. Now she'd done it. She hadn't even lasted two weeks. She'd be packing her bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when they turned up on the doorstep? First she gets Harry in detention, and now this? He had to hate her for sure.

Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to them. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry and Andromeda trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking them to Dumbledore. She thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps she could persuade him to let Harry be Hagrid's assistant while she goes back to the Dursleys.

Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

Wood? thought Andromeda, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him? Why can't she just give her another detention?

But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.

"Follow me, you three," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry and Andromeda.

"In here."

Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.

"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys and one girl.

"Potter, Black, this is Oliver Wood. Wood - I've found you a Seeker and a Chaser."

Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.

"Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "They're naturals at flying. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick?"

Harry and Andromeda nodded silently. She didn't have a clue what was going on, but she didn't seem to be being expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to her legs.

"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it. And she had a curse flying at her and she dodged it, and the buildings that were just after it. It was a miracle she didn't run into it. She'll be great at dodging bludgers. And I've seen her aim. It's the best I've seen at Hogwarts."

Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.

"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, you two?" he asked excitedly.

"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.

"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light - speedy - we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor - a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say. I'd say the same for Black, too. Might not be bad either on a Comet Two Sixty if she's fast enough to keep up with the other chasers."

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."

"Probably because his face is covered by his slimy hair," Andromeda said nonchalantly.

Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Andromeda. Then sighed, shook her head and looked between her and Harry.

"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, Black, or I may change my mind about punishing you."

Then she suddenly smiled.

"Your fathers would have been proud," she said. "They were excellent Quidditch players themselves."

"You're joking."

It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Dorcas, Noah and Ron what had happened when they'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it. Noah had spat out his pumpkin juice all over Percy Weasley and Dorcas put her hand into her drink instead of her plate full of chicken legs.

"Seeker? Chaser?" Ron said. "But first years never - you must be the youngest house players -"

"- in about a century, said Andromeda, shovelling pie into her mouth. She felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told us."

Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at them.

"We start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

"Oi, Harry," Andromeda said. "We could probably use this to get out of detention with Snape. Just keep telling him we have Quidditch."

"You, Andy, are a genius," Harry said, smiling.

Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry and Andromeda, and hurried over.

"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too - Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? Black? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Andromeda coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course she has," said Ron, wheeling around. "Harry's her second, I'm her third, who's yours?"

Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.

"Crabbe, then Goyle," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

When Malfoy had gone, Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron looked at each other. "What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, I'm Andy's second?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Noah casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" Andromeda asked.

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.

"Excuse me."

They all looked up. It was Hermione Granger.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.

Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry and Andromeda.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying -"

"Bet you could," Ron muttered.

"-and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose for Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business," said Dorcas.

"Good-bye," said Noah.

All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Andromeda thought, as she sat awake much later. Dorcas had moved onto Andromeda's bed so that they could play a game of Exploding Snap, a Silencing Charm placed around Andromeda's bed so the other girls don't wake up to the noise.. Dorcas and Noah were coming with them, too. After serving her detention with McGonagall, Ron had spent all evening giving Andromeda and Harry advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them." There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Andromeda felt she was pushing her luck, already having a close shave from expulsion today. On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness - this was her big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. She couldn't miss it.

"Half-past eleven," Dorcas said at last, "we'd better go."

They pulled on their robes over their pyjamas, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room where Ron, Noah and Harry were waiting. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this."

A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink robe and a frown.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Andromeda couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.

"Come on," Noah said. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and they climbed through the hole.

Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed them through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Pretty sure I already lost those points," Andromeda said.

"Go away," said Ron.

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so -"

But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a night time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.

"That's your problem," said Dorcas. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."

They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.

"I'm coming with you," she said.

"You are not," Andromeda said.

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve -" said Ron loudly.

"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. I heard something."

It was a sort of snuffling.

"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere," Noah said.

"How's your arm?" said Harry.

"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good - well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later -"

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.

"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you," Andromeda warned.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Andromeda expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Andromeda took out her wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Dorcas whispered.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Andromeda had only just raised her wand when they heard someone speak -and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Noah mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run -he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour.

The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Andromeda and Harry yelled, and the seven of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following - they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going - they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," Dorcas panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping her forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.

"I - told -you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I - told - you."

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Andromeda, "quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to the majority of the group. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

Andromeda thought she was probably right, but she wasn't going to tell her that.

"Let's go."

It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves - please - you'll get us thrown out," Andromeda snapped.

Peeves cackled.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please," pleaded Dorcas.

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR"

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door - and it was locked.

"This is it!" Andromeda moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. She turned to Harry. "We're done for! This is the end! Tell Midnight I love him."

"Don't be such a drama queen," Dorcas said.

"At least I'm some kind of queen," Andromeda retorted.

They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts.

"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, 'Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open - they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please."'

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right -please."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay - get off, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's robe for the last minute. "What?"

Andromeda turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, she was sure they'd walked into a nightmare - this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.

They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Andromeda knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.

Andromeda groped for the doorknob - between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.

They fell backward - Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared - all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their robes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Never mind that - pig snout, pig snout," panted Dorcas, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on.

"The floor?" Andromeda suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

She stood up, glaring at them.

"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron stared after her, his mouth open.

"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you."

But Hermione had given Andromeda something else to think about as she climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something... What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide - except perhaps Hogwarts.

It looked as though they'd had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.

She was just on the verge of sleep when her eyes snapped open. She had forgotten about the letter Dorcas' father had sent her. She got up and fumbled around in her discarded robe for it. She opened it and read:

 _Meda,_

 _I hope you don't find this too weird, but I needed to talk to you. My name is Remus Lupin. I used to be friends with your parents. Your mother was actually my sister, and I am truly sorry you lost her at such a young age._

 _I hope you are well. Dorcas has told me some things about you, and forgive me for not sharing with her your relation to each other. You do sound a lot like your father, which I hope you don't find offensive, considering his circumstance._

 _It would be great hearing from you. I haven't seen you since you or Harry were babies._

 _Inside the envelope I have put some photos of your parents._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Uncle Moony._

Uncle Moony! So that's who he is. Dorcas' father. This would mean that Dorcas and Noah were the ones Andromeda remembered.

She looked at the photos in the envelope. There were five in there.

The first one was of my mother when she was younger, about five, but still recognisable. She was sitting with a boy of the same age. He had light brown hair and pale skin like Dorcas. They were laughing and waving at the camera, their eyes shining.

The next photo had the same boy in it, but this time he was older, about sixteen, and accompanied by three other boys. There was one that looked _exactly_ like Harry, but with slightly different eyes. There was a short, plum boy with a baby face, and Andromeda's dad. She recognised him straight away. The boys were laughing joyfully in a park, arms around each other.

The third photo was of two girls around fifteen. Both with red hair and covered in freckles. They could have been sisters. One of the girls, though, was Andromeda's mother. The other girl, she knew was Harry's mum. They had the same eyes. They were hugging and spinning around, their heads thrown back.

The fourth photo had eight people in it. There were the four boys, and the two girls from the previous photos, all about seventeen now. There was also a girl with the same face as Dorcas, but with black hair. Another girl next to her had blond frizzy hair and a wide smile. They were all sitting on stairs that Andromeda recognised as the front steps of the castle, and they were wearing Hogwarts robes, every single person wearing Gryffindor robes. Andromeda's mother and father were sitting together, his arm around her shoulders and kissing her mother's head. Next to them were Harry's parents, facing each other and laughing. Remus and Dorcas' mother were in a conversation with the other two people, the four of them a few steps down from Andromeda's and Harry's parents.

The last photo had Andromeda gasping. This was a magical one, the people in it were moving. Her father and mother dancing around in the snow, laughing and kissing. They were about the same age in the previous photo, perhaps a bit older. Andromeda couldn't help herself from smiling broadly at this photo.

She stared at the last photo for what seemed like hours before finding a quill and parchment and, using her wand for light, writing Remus a letter.

 _Dear Uncle Moony,_

 _Is it okay to call you Uncle Moony? Only, it's all I can remember calling you._

 _I am good. I like it here at Hogwarts and your daughter and Noah are two of my best friends. You should be very proud of them._

 _I got onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team today, even though I'm a first year. I'm a Chaser, and Harry is the Gryffindor Seeker. I can't wait until we get to fly again._

 _All my teachers have said I'm like him too. Like my dad. I don't know whether or not that is a good thing. I know he killed people and that he was with Voldemort. He didn't seem bad in the photos or from what I remember._

 _McGonagall especially has repeatedly said I'm like him. I've had detention with her every night except for my first night here. Apparently it isn't nice to glue furniture to the ceiling with Peeves. I reckon she likes me, though. She doesn't say anything when I call her Minnie or Minnie McGee anymore and she smiled once when I transformed myself to look like her and teach the class how to prank Slytherins._

 _Snape is the worst. He seems to hate me, Harry, Dorcas and Noah the most. When we told Hagrid about it, he said Snape just doesn't like anyone. But he seemed to really hate us. He also didn't seem to like it when I made a joke about the greasy hair._

 _I hope you are well._

 _Love,_

 _Andromeda_

 _P.S. Why did you address the letter to Meda? I don't mind it, just curious._

Andromeda slipped on her robe and snuck off to the owlery. Fortunately, she didn't get caught on the way there and back and was back inside her dormitory in no time.


	10. Chapter 10 - Halloween

**Chapter 10 - Halloween**

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry, Andromeda and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Andromeda filled everyone in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or both," said Dorcas.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to any of them, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus. All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by two long, thin packages carried by six large screech owls each. Andromeda was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped them right in front of her and Harry, knocking her bacon to the floor, much to her disappointment. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letters on top of the parcels.

Andromeda ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

 _DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE._

 _It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. Don't worry about having a detention tonight._

 _Professor McGonagall_

Andromeda had difficulty hiding her glee as he handed the note to Dorcas and Noah to read. She turned to Harry and read his note. It was the exact same note, except it didn't mention any detention.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"Those are broomsticks," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, Black, first years aren't allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it.

"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.

"Not arguing, I hope?" he squeaked.

"Potter and Black have been sent broomsticks, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry and Andromeda. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that we've got it," he added.

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion. "Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall we wouldn't be on the team..."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the packages in Harry and Andromeda's hands.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Dorcas.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good."

Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.

Andromeda had a lot of trouble keeping her mind on her lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where her new broomstick was lying under her bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where she'd be learning to play that night. She bolted her dinner that evening, and then the five of them rushed to the Gryffindor dormitories to look at the broomsticks.

"Wow," Dorcas sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Andromeda's blanket. "Half of the Holyhead Harpies have one of these!"

Even Andromeda, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

At seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry and Andromeda left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. They'd never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Andromeda of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.

Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry and Andromeda mounted their broomsticks and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling - they swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field playing follow the leader. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever she wanted at her lightest touch.

"Hey, Potter, Black, come down!'

Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry and Andromeda landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you two really are naturals. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."

"Three Chasers," Andromeda repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.

"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops, that's your job, Black. Follow me?"

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Andromeda recited. "So - that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.

"Never mind," said Andromeda quickly.

"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Andromeda. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" She pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."

He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."

He showed Harry and Andromeda two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Andromeda noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.

"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat and sent it zigzagging away into the air - it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team - the Weasley twins are ours - it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So - think you've got all that?"

"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.

"Very good," said Wood.

"Er - have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.

"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you, Potter. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers -"

"- Unless they crack my head open."

"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers - I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."

Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.

"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages - I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. Well, that's it - any questions?"

Harry and Andromeda shook their heads.

"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch. Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. He would throw a few, then swap and try and block the Quaffle from going through the hoops. He stopped one of the ten shots Andromeda made.

After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.

"That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all her homework and detentions, but Andromeda could hardly believe it when he realized that she'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. Her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.

Her and Harry's detention with Snape still happened, but all he made them do was clean cauldrons. Andromeda also had taken to pulling pranks on the Slytherins ranging from individual to the entirety of the house.

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. At breakfast, Dorcas and Noah were confused when once again a letter came for her from Remus (neither Remus nor Andromeda had told them about Andromeda being Dorcas' cousin), which she was ecstatic about and stashed in her robe for later. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry and Andromeda partnered up, as did Dorcas and Noah. Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to any of them since the day Harry and Andromeda's broomsticks had arrived. This must have been a challenge seeing as she lived in the same dormitory as Andromeda and Dorcas.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

It wasn't very difficult and Andromeda got it on her first try, but Harry swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop.

Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it, too!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to everyone as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly. "

Someone knocked into Harry sending him into Andromeda and they hurried past them. It was Hermione. Andromeda caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears.

"I think she heard you," Noah said.

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"Don't be so mean, Ron," said Dorcas, rushing after Hermione.

Hermione and Dorcas didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling Lavender Brown that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone, but that Dorcas wouldn't leave her. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their minds.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Andromeda was just helping herself to some steak and bacon when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element.

"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron.

"Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke," Andromeda said. "He should have told me, though."

Peeves had taken a liking to Andromeda and she sometimes helped him with his pranks, where he sometimes helped her with hers (like last week when all the Slytherins were pained red and roared when they talked).

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Andromeda suddenly grabbed Harry and Noah's arms.

"I've just thought - Hermione."

"What about her?" Ron said, stopping, too.

"She doesn't know about the troll."

Ron bit his lip.

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Noah, pulling Harry, Andromeda and Ron behind a large stone griffin.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me."

"Probably searching for shampoo."

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Andromeda sniffed and a foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

And then they heard it - a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Noah pointed - at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Noah nervously.

They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Andromeda managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

'Yes!"

Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop - high, petrified screams - and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.

"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? There was no way they were going to let Hermione and Dorcas die. Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.

Hermione Granger and Dorcas were shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if they were about to faint. The troll was advancing on them, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione and Dorcas. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Noah time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" Noah yelled at Hermione and Dorcas, trying to pull them toward the door, but they couldn't move, they were still flat against the wall, their mouths open with terror.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Andromeda in a corner, who was yelling loudly, was the nearest, and had no way to escape.

Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped - it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright and Dorcas and Noah tried pulling her up; Ron pulled out his own wand - not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over - and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet and Andromeda rushed to him, throwing her arms around him. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done. Noah and Dorcas were dragging Hermione towards the others.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it - dead?"

"I don't think so," said Harry, releasing Andromeda, "I think it's just been knocked out."

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

"Urgh - troll boogers."

He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the six of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at them all. Andromeda had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Andromeda's mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Everyone looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harry and Andromeda a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor and Andromeda opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.

"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them."

Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Andromeda distracted it, Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived. Dorcas and Noah were trying to get me out."

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

"Well - in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Andromeda was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Hermione left.

Professor McGonagall turned to the remainder of the group.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore and your guardians will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than twenty points," Ron grumbled.

"Fifteen, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Noah admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Andromeda reminded him.

They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout," they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

After they finished eating, the bid each other goodnight and went to their dorms. Andromeda crawled onto her bed and too her letter from Remus out and read:

 _Meda,_

 _Sorry that this response is a little late._

 _Congratulations on making the team. I should come see you play sometime._

 _I hope you aren't getting yourself into too much trouble, but it is nice to hear you're having fun._

 _Professor Snape went to school with me, your father, Harry's father and Noah's father. We didn't get along too well. His hair doesn't seemed to have changed if it's still greasy. If you're up for getting into trouble with him, call him Snivellus. It was a nickname we called him in school. He hated it._

 _Professor McGonagall did seem a bit fond of us, too. Sirius used to call her those names. That's probably why she hasn't fought you too much on the matter._

 _We used to pull pranks too. If you ever need Peeves to help you with a prank, ask him if you could help him repeat the Marauder's Halloween prank from 1975._

 _Sorry if calling you Meda was confusing. We used to call you that for short. That and 'Dromeda._

 _Uncle Moony._

She wrote back:

 _Uncle Moony,_

 _Thanks for the idea of calling Snape, Snivellus. I'll be sure to test it out. We had our first practice a while ago and I think I'm in love with Quidditch. Minnie bought Harry and I Nimbus Two Thousands. You should have seen Malfoy's face when he found out we were allowed them!_

 _My detentions are almost over. I don't know what I'm going to do with all this free time._

 _I love my classes. Transfiguration is probably my best subject so far. Charms is easy too. I was the first in the class to levitate a feather today! I was hoping for Defence Against the Dark Arts to be my favourite but it's a joke. I think our teacher is petrified of everything that moves. Potion is pretty easy, too. I'm not too fond of Astronomy, I hate the moon. I always get sick around the full moon. Do you know what that's about?_

 _My first Quidditch game is the beginning of next month. If you were allowed to come, it would be great._

 _Love,_

 _Meda._

She folded the letter up and set off to the owlery. She didn't feel very tired, so she wandered the castle, listening out for any signs of teachers or Filch. After ten minutes of roaming around and exploring, she heard something that made her freeze. Mrs Norris was staring at her meowing. The cat walked off, no doubt to find Filch, so Andromeda bolted down the corridor and found an opening. She went through it and was face with a hall full of paintings.

There was a painting of a fruit bowl in front of her and she remembered a conversation she had heard when listening to Fred and George. She reached out and tickled the pear and the painting opened.

She gasped and stepped through the hole in the wall. The kitchens were huge. There were four long tables which Andromeda assumed were for the Great Hall. A small creature she had never seen before spoke in a squeaky voice.

"Hello, Miss?"

Andromeda looked down at it. It had huge ears and a long, pointy nose with huge eyes. It wore nothing but a piece of worn out cloth.

"Uh, yes?" Andromeda said uncertainly.

"Were you hungry at all, Miss? Thirsty?" the small creature said.

"If - if you had any hot chocolate, that would be great please," said Andromeda.

The creature seemed to light up at the request and led her over to a fireplace and went to fix her a cup of hot chocolate. She sat down and waited for the creature to return.

It came back not two minutes later, a steaming mug pressed into Andromeda's hands.

"Thank you," Andromeda said. "What are you?"

"I am a house-elf, Miss," the creature squeaked. "My name is Tiny."

"Well, Tiny," Andromeda said, and the house-elf beamed. "It is nice to meet you."

After finishing her drink, Andromeda stepped out of the kitchens and tried to navigate her way back to the Gryffindor tower. Half-way there, she was met with an unfortunate sight. Filch smiling evilly down at her.


	11. Chapter 11 - Quidditch

**Chapter 11 - Quidditch**

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots.

After the troll incident, Remus had sent three letters for Dorcas, Noah and Andromeda chewing them out for being so irresponsible and impulsive, but the further Andromeda got through the letter, the less angry he became. He did say that he talked to Dumbledore and has permission to see her first match. They still hadn't told Dorcas and Noah about Andromeda's relation, but Andromeda didn't mind. Although Dorcas and Noah did seem very surprised whenever Andromeda received a letter, they didn't bring it up.

After being caught by Filch, he had given her a detention for the night before her first Quidditch match.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry and Andromeda would be playing in their first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry and Andromeda play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, they should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker and she playing Chaser had leaked out somehow, and Andromeda didn't know which was worse – telling her to not stuff it up, no pressure, that she would be brilliant, or people telling her they'd be running around underneath her holding a mattress.

Not many people appreciated that she was Sirius Black's daughter, but most of Gryffindor and other houses had warmed up to her and enjoyed her pranks

It was really lucky that Harry and Andromeda now had Hermione as a friend. They didn't know how they'd have gotten through all their homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. Hermione had lent them Quidditch Through the Ages which turned out to be a great read.

They learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron helped save her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it. The day before Harry and Andromeda's first Quidditch match the six of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and Hermione had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Andromeda noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Andromeda bitterly.

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. They sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking everyone's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.

The Weasley twins were huddled in a corner and Andromeda walked over to see what was up.

"Filch took the map?" Fred said.

"Yep," George replied. "Seemed to know right away what it was, too, even though I cleared it so it looked like a piece of parchment. Dunno where he put it."

Andromeda shrugged to herself and said, "Whatcha talking about?"

The twins jumped and turned around.

"Filch just nicked some stuff off us," George said, while Fred said, "Not much."

When Andromeda returned to her friends, Harry looked restless. Andromeda could tell he wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow.

He stood up and told them he was going to ask Snape for it back.

"Better you than me," Dorcas, Noah, Ron and Hermione said together, but Andromeda had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening. She stood up and the two left. She figured she could head to her detention after.

They made their way down to the staffroom and knocked. There was no answer. Harry knocked again. Nothing.

Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. Andromeda pushed the door ajar and peered inside - and a horrible scene met her eyes.

Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.

"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harry and Andromeda tried to shut the door quietly, but -

"POTTER! BLACK!"

Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back," Harry said quickly.

"GET OUT! OUT!"

Harry and Andromeda left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. Andromeda made her way to Filch's office and waited for him.

Ten minutes later he showed up and told her that she would be organizing his filing cabinets. She set to work and Filch ran off to look for any other wrong-doing students, leaving her alone to the filing.

Half-way through her detention, she saw a cabinet that caught her eye. It said " _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous_."

She sneaked towards it and tried opening it. It was locked. She took her wand out and used the Unlocking Charm and it opened. Inside were many things but the object that caught her eye was a blank piece of parchment. Could it be the map that the twins had talked about? She tucked it into her pocket and returned to the files, making sure to lock the cabinet back up

Filch returned around an hour later and relieved her of her detention. She rushed to her dormitory and jumped onto her bed. She retrieved the parchment out of her robes and looked at it.

Nothing was there. She frowned. Suddenly she had an idea. Pulling out her wand, she pointed it at the parchment and said, " _Aparecium_." She had learned of the handy Revealing Charm when she was reading through her Charms textbook.

Words started appearing on the page. There were four comments:

 _Mr Moony would like to know how Miss Black came about this map and wishes her well._

 _Mr Wormtail would like to bid Miss Black good day._

 _Mr Padfoot would like to express that he is proud of Miss Black and would like to make sure she is well._

 _Mr Prongs would like to tell Miss Black to solemnly swear that she is up to no good._

Andromeda stared at the writing which started to slowly disappear. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs? She knew those names, she thought, looking towards her stuffed toys laying next to Midnight.

Once again, she suddenly came about an idea.

She tapped the parchment with her wand and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Ink appeared all over the page and, to Andromeda's amazement, started forming the familiar pathways of Hogwarts. She looked around it. Names of students and teachers appeared in certain parts of the map. She found Gryffindor tower and saw that her name was floating along with the rest of the female Gryffindors.

"How do I turn the map off," she wondered aloud. Next to her name, a new bubble of writing popped up and said, "Tap the map, Mischief Managed."

She tapped the map with the wand and said the words, "Mischief managed." Once the words disappeared, she tucked it under her pillow and was soon asleep.

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast," Dorcas said.

"I don't want anything," replied Harry.

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry."

"Just eat, you idiot," Andromeda said through a mouthful of bacon.

"Harry, you need your strength," said Noah. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Thanks, Noah," said Harry, watching Noah pile ketchup on his sausages.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

Ron, Noah, Dorcas and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, Andromeda and the other Gryffindors had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours.

On her way to the locker room with Harry, she saw someone waiting outside. Someone she had recognised immediately.

"Uncle Moony!" Andromeda shouted, running towards him. He engulfed her in a hug which seemed to last until Harry had made his way to them.

Andromeda stood back and glanced at the man in front of her. He looked far older than he had in the photographs, with greying hair and scars on his face.

Looking to Harry, who stood watching the scene confused, Andromeda said, "Uncle Moony, Harry. Harry, Uncle Moony."

Harry seemed to understand who the man was now and shook Remus' hand, smiling.

"Wait," Harry said. "You look like Dorcas."

"Well, I am her father," Remus said.

"Oh, okay."

Harry went on into the locker room and left Andromeda and Remus to talk.

"So last night in my detention with Filch, I came across something peculiar," Andromeda said out of the blue.

"Oh," Remus said, obviously not expecting such a random sentence. "What would that be?"

"Just a bit of parchment, totally not a map in disguise at all," Andromeda said, smirking.

"Ah," Remus said. "And I'm assuming that you took this parchment?"

"You would be assuming correctly."

"And this map would not at all be used for mischief?"

"Of course not."

Ten minutes later, in the locker room, Harry, Andromeda and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green). Remus had joined the Gryffindor commentators, hoping to surprise Dorcas and Noah.

Wood cleared his throat for silence.

"Okay, men," he said.

"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.

"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry and Andromeda, "we were on the team last year."

"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."

He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."

"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."

Harry and Andromeda followed Fred and George out of the locker room and walked onto the field to loud cheers. Andromeda clutched Harry's hand when she saw that he looked pale.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Andromeda noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Andromeda thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing Potter for President over the crowd. She nudged Harry and nodded to it. He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Mount your brooms, please."

Harry and Andromeda clambered onto their Nimbus Two Thousands.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.

Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off. "And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Andromeda Black, Gryffindor first year and new addition to the team. She's a funny one, that Black is - back to Johnson and - no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle - that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH - that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger - Quaffle taken by the Slytherins - that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger - sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which - nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Black back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes - she's really flying - dodges a speeding Bludger - the goal posts are ahead - come on, now, 'Dromeda - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.

"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."

When Andromeda had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once he caught sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannonball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.

"All right there, Harry?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the - wait a moment - was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch -all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.

Harry was faster than Higgs - he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead - - he put on an extra spurt of speed -

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below - Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.

"So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul

'Jordan, I'm warning you -"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Black, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Lee was still commentating.

"Slytherin in possession - Flint with the Quaffle - passes Spinnet - passes Bell - hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose - only joking, Professor - Slytherins score - A no..."

The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely

Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

Andromeda dropped the Quaffle, thankfully caught by Angelina Johnson, when she saw Harry, and flew towards him, but when she got close to him, his broom jumped away.

The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys and Andromeda flew up to try and pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good - every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.

Suddenly, his broom stopped moving and Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom. Andromeda went back to the game and scored three more times.

Then, Harry was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick - he hit the field on all fours - coughed - and something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.

Andromeda raced to the ground and met Harry with a hug. They had won their first game.

"He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference - Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results - Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry and Andromeda heard none of this, though. They were being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron, Noah, Dorcas and Hermione. Remus had come say goodbye to her after the game and saying that she played wonderfully, that he was proud of her.

"It was Snape," Ron was explaining, "We saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided first.

"We found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah - he's mine - bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year - I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the -"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it," Andromeda said.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Dorcas.

"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!" Hermione explained.

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all six of yeh - yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel -"

"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself.


	12. Chapter 12 - The Mirror of Erised

**Chapter 12 - The Mirror of Erised**

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins and Andromeda were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

He was looking over at Harry and Andromeda as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Andromeda, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry and Andromeda about having no proper family.

It was true that Harry and Andromeda weren't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and they had signed up at once. They didn't feel sorry for themselves at all; this would probably be the best Christmas they'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying, too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie. Hermione, Noah and Dorcas, however, were going home.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoys cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose - that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him -"

"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to -the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree - put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me - we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Noah, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Dorcas told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here - I've told yeh - drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere - just give us a hint - I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin, said Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermione and Dorcas took out a list of subjects and titles they had decided to search while Ron and Andromeda strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry and Noah wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What are you looking for, boys?"

"Nothing," said Harry.

Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at them.

"You'd better get out, then. Go on - out!"

Harry and Noah left. Five minutes later, Ron, Andromeda, Dorcas and Hermione joined them, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while we're away, won't you?" said Hermione. "And send us an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.

Once the holidays had started, Andromeda, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think much about Flamel. She felt sick for the week before Christmas, but that didn't stop her from having fun. They had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork - bread, English muffins, marshmallows - and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work. Andromeda had moved into the boy's dormitory for the holidays so she wouldn't be alone.

Ron also started teaching Harry and Andromeda wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family - in this case, his grandfather. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.

Harry played with chessmen Seamus Finnigan had lent him, and they didn't trust him at all. He wasn't a very good player yet and they kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing. "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him." On Christmas Eve, Harry and Andromeda went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all.

She had a nightmare tonight. One she hadn't had for a while. All she could see was a woman's pale face, half covered by messy black hair. Her laugh was high-pitched and manic and her grey eyes wide with delight. It wasn't that which scared Andromeda, but the pain. Her whole body felt like she was on fire and she didn't realize she was screaming into her pillow until Harry and Ron pulled the curtains of the bed back. Harry crawled into the bed with her and let her cry into his shirt. He gave Ron a pointed look and Ron went back to bed.

"I saw her again," Andromeda sobbed. "It hurt s-so much."

Harry rocked her back and forth and they fell into a sleep. When they woke early in the morning, however, she tried putting it to the back of her mind when the first thing she saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of her temporary bed. It didn't work too well. All of her muscles ached. She shook Harry awake when she saw some at the end of his bed.

"Merry Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of Andromeda's bed and pulled on his robe.

"You, too," said Harry. He turned to Andromeda. "Will you look at this? We've got some presents!"

She offered him a weak smile.

"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's and Andromeda's.

Harry picked up the top parcel on his pile. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was _To Harry, from Hagrid_. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it - it sounded a bit like an owl.

A second, very small parcel contained a note.

 _We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia._ Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

"That's friendly," said Andromeda dryly.

Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence.

"Weird!" he said, 'What a shape! This is money?"

"You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was. "Hagrid and my aunt and uncle - so who sent these?"

"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mom. I told her you didn't expect any presents and - oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley sweater."

Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.

"Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."

"That's really nice of her," said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.

His next presents also contained candy - a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from Dorcas and Noah.

This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it.

Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds.

Ron gasped.

"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is - they're really rare, and really valuable."

"What is it?" Andromeda asked.

Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is - try it on."

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell as Andromeda gasped.

"It is! Look down!"

Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Andromeda got out of bed and stumbled over to him. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words _: Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you._

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the cloak. Andromeda went over to her presents, her muscles still sore. Maybe she should see Madam Pomfrey about it later.

"I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Harry.

Andromeda opened the top present from her pile. It, like Harry's, was from Hagrid. It was a carving of a dragon, a note taped to it which read: _It was the closest I could find of the real thing so far. Merry Christmas. Hagrid._

The next package was from Ron's mother, inside was a large box of homemade fudge and a black knitted sweater.

The next parcels were boxes of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, Dorcas and Noah.

The last present in her pile was a book _Every Hogwarts Rule and How to Break Them: the Marauder's Edition_ from Remus.

"Who are the Marauder's?" Harry asked, picking up the book.

Before Andromeda could respond, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed his cloak quickly out of sight.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look – Harry and 'Dromeda's got a Weasley sweater, too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.

"Harry's and Andromeda's are better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned half-heartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid - we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"What's all this noise?"

Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry and 'Dromeda got one."

"I - don't – want -" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.

Later in the day, Andromeda wandered off to the infirmary, telling Harry and Ron that she had forgotten something in the Great Hall.

"Yes, dear?" a woman who Andromeda supposed was Madam Pomfrey said.

"Uh," Andromeda said. "Well, you see, I had this nightmare last night and now I'm sore all over."

"Sore after a nightmare?" the nurse asked. "Are you sure you aren't just sick or worn out?"

"Uh, no." Andromeda sighed. "I woke up screaming and in pain. Was sore still when I woke up this morning."

"Hmm."

"Do you have anything that can make the pain go away?"

"I'm sorry, dear, but unless I know exactly what caused the pain, I can't help. What exactly was this nightmare about?"

"It was more of a memory, really," Andromeda explained, taking a seat on the closest hospital bed. "When I was about three, this woman took me. She did something and I was in a lot of pain. Then she just left. That's all I remember. Just her and her laugh and the pain."

"I wonder," Madam Pomfrey mumbled. Then more loudly, "Do you think that the pain could have been from a Cruciatus Curse?"

"A what curse?"

"Wait here."

She hurried off into another room, and after a moment, came back with a book. She opened it up to a page and gestured for Andromeda to read it.

 _The Cruciatus Curse (also known as the Torture Curse) (Crucio) is a tool of the Dark Arts and one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It is one of the most powerful and sinister spells known to wizardkind. When cast successfully, the curse inflicts intense, excruciating pain on the victim._

 _The pain caused by the Cruciatus Curse is described as worse than "one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin" and beyond what most people will ever experience. The sensation of the curse is so intense that the person under the effects wishes for unconsciousness and even death, as a means of escape._

When Andromeda finished reading, she looked up at Madam Pomfey, her face pale as she nodded weakly. Madam Pomfrey's lips were brought into a thin line and she looked at Andromeda pitifully.

"I'm sorry, but I do not have anything for that spell, Miss Black," she said.

Andromeda nodded and left silently.

Andromeda had never in all her life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce - and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favours were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Andromeda and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. Andromeda watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Andromeda's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

When Harry and Andromeda finally left the table, they were laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and a new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and Andromeda had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris's Christmas dinner.

Harry, Andromeda and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. Andromeda suspected that Harry wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.

It had been Andromeda's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of her mind all day about the Cruciatus Curse.

Ron, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he'd drawn the curtains of his four-poster. Andromeda lay in bed, thinking silently. Harry leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the cloak out from under it.

He had to try it, now. He slipped out of bed and wrapped the cloak around himself. Looking down at his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. Andromeda peeked out from behind her curtains.

"Taking it out for a spin, huh?" Andromeda said.

Harry jumped and turned to her.

"Would you like to come sneak around the castle?" Harry offered. Andromeda nodded and got up, throwing her rob over her. She pulled the map out of her robe.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"A map," said Andromeda simply. She unfolded it and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" as she tapped it with her wand.

They crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole under the cloak.

"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. They said nothing. They walked quickly down the corridor.

Andromeda nudged him and pointed to a place on the map. The Restricted Section in the library. They'd be able to read as long as they liked, as long as it took to find out who Flamel was. They set off, drawing the invisibility cloak tight around them as they walked.

The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see the way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair, and even though Andromeda could see Harry's arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.

The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, Harry held up his lamp to read the titles.

They didn't tell them much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry and Andromeda couldn't understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of Andromeda's neck prickled. Maybe she was imagining it, maybe not, but she thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

They had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor while Andromeda stuffed the map in her pocket after muttering "Mischief Managed", Harry looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting-looking book. A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence - the book was screaming! Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. They stumbled backward and knocked over the lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, they heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside - stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, they ran for it. They passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through them, and Harry and Andromeda carefully slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in their ears.

They came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. They had been so busy getting away from the library, they hadn't paid attention to where they were going. Perhaps because it was dark, they didn't recognize where they were at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, she knew, but they must be five floors above there.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library Restricted Section."

Andromeda felt the blood drain out of her face. Wherever they were, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to her horror, it was Snape who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

Harry and Andromeda stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see them, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into them - the cloak didn't stop them from being solid.

Harry backed away as quietly as he could, Andromeda following. A door stood ajar to their left. It was their only hope. They squeezed through it, holding their breaths, trying not to move it, and to their relief they managed to get inside the room without anyone noticing anything. Snape and Filch walked straight past, and Harry and Andromeda leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to the footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before they noticed anything about the room they had hidden in.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket - but propped against the wall facing them was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. Their panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry and Andromeda moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at themselves but see no reflection. Harry stepped in front of it.

He clapped his hand to his mouth and whirled around. Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror. Harry looked back over his shoulder and then looked in the mirror again.

Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"

"Harry?" Andromeda said softly. "Who're you talking to?"

Harry ignored her. He stared hungrily into the mirror, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it.

"Come," Harry said, suddenly turning and beckoning Andromeda closer. "Stand here."

She stood where Harry had stood and she gasped.

"You see them, don't you?" Harry said. He pointed to different sides of the mirror. "Here is my mum and here's my dad..."

But Andromeda wasn't paying attention to him. She saw her parents. Her mum was smiling down at her. And her dad was beaming at her, he was innocent and free. Behind them she saw Remus looking healthier and younger and next to him were Harry's parents, alive. Harry was there too, standing next to Andromeda, holding her hand like they always did.

The Harry outside of the mirror nudged her. "Andy? Did you see them?"

"I saw my parents," she said, her voice feeble. "Your parents were there, too. And Uncle Moony."

"Maybe it shows people different things?" Harry offered.

"Of course it does," Andromeda said. She pointed to the inscription on the mirror. "It says "I show not your face but your heart's desire" backwards. I saw my family, you saw yours."

She didn't tell him that she saw him. Her heart sunk when she realized he didn't see her.

"You could have woken me up," said Ron, crossly.

"You can come tonight, we're going back, I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mom and dad," Ron said eagerly.

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."

"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer."

Andromeda sighed. "Boys, if doesn't show everyone's family. It shows their desires."

"Oh. Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"

Harry wasn't eating and he had a strange expression on his face.

"Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd."

With Ron covered in the cloak, too, they had to walk much more slowly the next night. They tried retracing their route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.

"I'm freezing," said Ron. "Let's forget it and go back."

"No!" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."

"Harry, please, can we just go back?" said Andromeda. She was still sore and walking around for a long time was only making the pain worse.

They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armour.

"It's here - just here - yes!"

They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror.

"See?" Harry whispered.

"I can't see anything."

"Look! Look at them all... there are loads of them..."

"I can only see you."

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am."

Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he wouldn't be able to see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pajamas.

Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" he said.

"I'm alone - but I'm different - I look older - and I'm head boy!"

"What?"

"I am - I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to - and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup - I'm Quidditch captain, too.

Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry.

"Let me have a look again."

"You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit more time."

"You're only holding the Quidditch cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents."

"Don't push me -"

A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realized how loudly they had been talking.

"Quick!" Andromeda said and threw the cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. Andromeda, Ron and Harry stood quite still, all thinking the same thing - did the cloak work on cats? After what seemed an age, she turned and left.

"This isn't safe - she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on," said Ron as pulled Harry and Andromeda out of the room.

The snow still hadn't melted the next morning.

"Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron.

"No."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?" Andromeda suggested.

"No... you go..."

"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight."

"Why not?"

"Look," said Ron. "I've just got a bad feeling about it - and anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"

"You sound like Hermione."

"We're serious, Harry, don't go," Andromeda pleaded.

But when she settled down in her bed that night, she sighed in exasperation when she heard the sound of Harry leaving.


	13. Chapter 13 - Nicolas Flamel

**Chapter 13 - Nicolas Flamel**

Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again, and for the rest of the Christmas holidays the invisibility cloak stayed folded at the bottom of his trunk. But now Harry was having dreams about his parents dying over and over again.

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron, when Harry told them about these dreams.

Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointment that he hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was. Whereas Dorcas and Noah were both disappointed that they couldn't have seen the mirror.

They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry claimed he was still sure he'd read the name somewhere. Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry and Andromeda had even less time than the other four, because Quidditch practice had started again.

Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry was on Wood's side. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years. Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after training.

Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He'd just gotten very angry with the Weasleys, who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.

"Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"

George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words.

"Snape's refereeing?" he spluttered through a mouthful of mud. "When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."

The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.

"It's not my fault," said Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

Which was all very well, thought Harry, but he had another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he was playing Quidditch...

The rest of the team hung back to talk to one another as usual at the end of practice, but Harry and Andromeda headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where they found Ron and Hermione playing chess and Dorcas and Noah helping them out. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry, Noah and Ron thought was very good for her.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry and Andromeda sat down next to him, "I need to concen -" He caught sight of their faces. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible."

Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the other two about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Noah.

"Pretend to break your leg," Dorcas suggested.

"Really break your leg," said Ron.

"Here, I'll break it for you," offered Andromeda, reaching for his leg.

"I can't," said Harry, trying to move his leg out of reach. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor tower.

Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione, who leapt up and performed the counter-curse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling. "What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with them.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Dorcas urged Neville. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

Harry pulled out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket. He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, Harry... I think I'll go to bed... D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.

"Dumbledore again," he said, "He was the first one I ever-"

He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione.

"I've found him!" he whispered. "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"

Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework.

"Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. The remainder of the group barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" said Noah, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.

At last she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily. Hermione ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.

"The what?" said Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron.

"Oh, honestly, don't you five read? Look - read that, there."

She pushed the book toward them, and they read: _The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

 _There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

"See?" said Hermione, when they had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Dorcas. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

The next morning in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Andromeda remembered about Snape and the coming match.

"I'm going to play," he told them. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them... it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione.

As the match drew nearer, Harry was becoming more and more nervous, whereas Andromeda was (unsuccessfully) trying to be nice to Snape in Potions class. The rest of the team wasn't too calm, either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the house championship was wonderful, no one had done it for seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?

Andromeda didn't know whether she was imagining it or not, but she seemed to keep running into Snape wherever she went. At times, she even wondered whether Snape was following her, trying to catch her on her own, but when she pulled out the Marauder's Map, it didn't appear so. Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry and Andromeda. Andromeda snapped one time, finally calling him "Snivellus" which he wasn't too happy about. She received a detention, which was something she hadn't had since finding the Map.

Harry and Andromeda knew, when they wished them good luck outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Ron, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see them alive again. Remus sent a letter to say he couldn't attend this match because he wasn't feeling too well. Andromeda could relate. It was the dreaded time of the month that made her want to throw up where she stood: the full moon.

Andromeda hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk as she pulled on his Quidditch robes and picked up her Nimbus Two Thousand.

Back in the locker room, Wood had taken Harry and Andromeda aside.

"Don't want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much. And Black, try and score as much as you can, and don't talk to Snape if you can avoid it. I've heard you and him aren't on the friendliest of terms."

"The whole school's out there!" said Fred Weasley, peering out of the door. "Even - blimey - Dumbledore's come to watch!"

"Dumbledore?" Harry said, he and Andromeda dashing to the door. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard.

Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched onto the field.

They started the match fairly quickly.

"And they're off," Lee Jordan was heard. "Black with the Quaffle, Gryffindor in possession, she passes to Johnson – watch out for that bludger, Johnson drops the Quaffle into Black's hands and she puts the Quaffle in. Ten - zero to Gryffindor."

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches - the next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

Harry jumped off his broom, Andromeda landing gently next to him. She couldn't believe it. Harry had done it - the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, she saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped – then she turned and saw Harry with a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face. He whispered something into Harry's ear. Snape spat bitterly on the ground.

Harry and Andromeda left the locker room some time later, to take their Nimbus Two Thousands back to the broomshed. She couldn't ever remember feeling happier.

The evening air had never smelled so sweet. They walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in her head, which was a happy blur: Gryffindors running to lift Harry onto their shoulders, Andromeda helping them; Ron, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione in the distance, jumping up and down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed.

Harry and Andromeda had reached the shed. Harry leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun.

"You did good, you know," Andromeda said, drawing his attention to her. "I'm proud of you. You really showed Snape."

And speaking of Snape...

A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible toward the forbidden forest. Harry's victory faded from their minds as they watched. They recognized the figure's prowling walk. Snape, sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner - what was going on?

Harry and Andromeda jumped back on their Nimbus Two Thousands and took off. Gliding silently over the castle they saw Snape enter the forest at a run. They looked at each other and followed.

The trees were so thick they couldn't see where Snape had gone. They flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until they heard voices. They glided toward them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree.

They climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to their broomsticks, trying to see through the leaves. Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too. Andromeda couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Andromeda and Harry strained to catch what they were saying.

"... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..."

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

They leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I -"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him.

"I-I don't know what you -"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the tree but Andromeda grabbed his robes. He steadied himself in time for them to hear Snape say, "- your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't -"

"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Andromeda could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.

"Harry, Andromeda, where have you been?" Dorcas squeaked. Andromeda looked at her. She looked more pale than usual.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right - talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Noah, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this..."

They made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus'- I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through -"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Dorcas in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.


	14. Chapter 14 - Norbert

**Chapter 14 - Norbet the Norwegian Ridgeback**

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.

She told Remus about what he thought of it all and he said that he knows what Snape is like, that he wouldn't put it past him, but he doesn't think Snape is after the stone. After the match, Andromeda had her monthly sick week, and it was the worse she's had so far. Dorcas and

Hermione had to force her to get out of bed to see Madam Pomfrey. She asked Remus if he knew what was wrong with her, but he told her that he will tell her next time he sees her.

This made Andromeda wish that her next Quidditch match would come quicker.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter. Noah and Andromeda had even stopped messing around in his class.

Hermione and Dorcas, however, had more on their minds than the Sorcerer's Stone. They had started drawing up study schedules and colour-coding all their notes. Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron wouldn't have minded, but they kept nagging them to do the same. It was worse for Andromeda because she had to actually share a dorm with them.

"The exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Noah reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am we studying for? Are you crazy?" Dorcas said. "You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, we should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me..."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione and Dorcas. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or Dorcas practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with them, trying to get through all their extra work.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

"I already know this. I'm already top of our classes," Andromeda complained. "Why do I need to do the homework?"

Harry, who was looking up "Dittany" in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Noah say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St -"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Noah, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh -"

"See you later, then," said Harry.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" Andromeda asked.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry.

"But it's against our laws," said Dorcas. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Andromeda, deflated. She really did want a dragon.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earths Hagrid up to?" said Dorcas.

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.

It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Harry. There was no point beating around the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Do you know us at all?" Andromeda said.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Dorcas in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron beamed at Hermione and Dorcas.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?"

"Yeah - yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

"The guy is pure evil, Hagrid," Andromeda said. "Why would anyone trust him?"

Andromeda knew Harry, Dorcas, Noah, Ron and Hermione were thinking the same as she was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything - except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Andromeda looked at it, too.

"Hagrid - what's that?"

But she already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's er..."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Andromeda.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making study schedules for Harry and Ron and Dorcas was drawing up schedules for Andromeda and Noah. It was driving them nuts.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: _It's hatching_.

Ron, Noah, Dorcas and Harry wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Dorcas said. Even she was willing to skive off class to see the dragon.

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered.

Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Andromeda didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.

The others headed off to Herbology and Andromeda wandered off to Hagrid's alone.

"'Dromeda!" Hagrid exclaimed when he opened the door. "Don't you have a class on righ' now?"

Andromeda shrugged and entered his hut. "Top of my classes anyway. Missing one lesson won't hurt. Plus, I wanna see a dragon hatch."

"Ah," Hagrid said. "Forgo' you liked dragons."

She sat down at his table and watched the egg crack on the table. Hagrid rushed around his hut, making sure everything was ready. Not long after, there was a knock on Hagrid's door.

"I'll get it," Andromeda said to Hagrid, who had only just sat down. She opened the door to see her friends.

"It's nearly out." She ushered them inside.

She looked back to the egg. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.

They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout. Andromeda made an "Awwww" noise.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.

"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Andromeda bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."

"I'll take him. I'll make my bed fireproof and he can stay there," Andromeda offered.

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bit his lip.

"I - I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Harry suddenly turned to Ron.

"Charlie," he said.

"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"

Andromeda caught on. She said, "No - Charlie - your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Noah. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.

The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Ron, Noah, Dorcas and Andromeda rushing towards Gryffindor tower. They pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak when they finally arrived at the Common Room. They had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" Ron said, showing Harry and Hermione his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

There was a tap on the dark window.

"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The six of them put their heads together to read the note.

 _Dear Ron,_

 _How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

 _Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

 _Send me an answer as soon as possible._

 _Love,_

 _Charlie_

They looked at one another.

"We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloak's big enough to cover four of us and Norbert."

It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other five agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy.

There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey - would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous. Andromeda and Dorcas went with him. Neither of them were feeling well either and wanted to ask Madam Pomfrey if she had anything. Andromeda found this odd because her sickness wasn't contagious, so why did Dorcas have the same symptoms as her?

She asked them questions like what they had eaten lately, or if perhaps it was just a cold. They shook their heads.

"I get sick once a month, you see," Andromeda explained. "I always have. I don't know why."

"Umm," Dorcas said. "Me too, but, well, you know who my father is..."

Madam Pomfrey looked at Dorcas pityingly. "Yes dear, of course."

Andromeda looked at Dorcas inquiringly, but Dorcas wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Well, Miss Black," Madam Pomfrey continued, turning to Andromeda. "Is it every month? If yes, around what time?"

"Uh," Andromeda glanced at Dorcas and then to Ron laying on one of the beds. Madam Pomfrey seemed to know her problem and led her away from her friends. She mumbled, "Every full moon."

"Sorry, dear, what was that?"

"Every full moon," she said louder. "I'm not a werewolf, I don't change on the full moon, not really. I just get sick around that time and sometimes I can change, but sometimes I can turn when it isn't a full moon. Kind of like animagi, like McGonagall. I have control, of course."

"Well that is certainly weird."

"I tried looking it up, but nothing. No records of it anywhere, even among metamorphmaguses. I used to think it was just that, but it isn't, I know it isn't."

"I could, perhaps try you on something. Who was your mother might I ask?"

"Emily Black," Andromeda said. When Madam Pomfrey had a blank face, she continued. "Remus Lupin's sister."

Madam Pomfrey suddenly had a look of understanding on her face and she nodded. She beckoned for Andromeda to follow her into her office. She opened up a draw in her desk and brought out a flask.

"I only have a sample with me right now, but we could try you out on it, I suppose," she said, holding the flask towards Andromeda. "Of course, you will have to stay here tonight so I can record any effects."

"What is it?" Andromeda said, taking it.

"Wolfsbane potion," she said hesitantly. Andromeda almost dropped it. "I know you said you weren't a werewolf, but I just want to test it out. It's supposed to be taken every night in the week leading up to the full moon. It should make you feel slightly better and should help you control your change. May I ask what it is you change into?"

"A black dog."

"Alright then. I shall ask Professor Snape to make up some more. He's the only teacher who knows how to make it. Well let's go see your friends."

Madam Pomfrey led Andromeda out towards Dorcas and Ron. She looked at the ground and avoided eye contact, still holding onto the flask.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lupin, but like all other times, I don't have anything. We tried all I did have and it didn't make you feel better," Madam Pomfrey said with a sympathetic look. "Oh! Before I forget." She turned to Andromeda. "You should lay down there and take potion now. And are there any things that make you feel better around these times?"

"Chocolate had always helped." Andromeda shrugged and drinking the potion. Shuddering and almost spitting it out from the taste.. Madam Pomfrey nodded and shooed Dorcas out of the room.

"Now," she said suddenly. She turned to Ron. "What is wrong with you, dear?"

He held up his hand.

The day was uneventful, only Draco Malfoy came by, claiming to need to borrow a book from Ron. He looked surprised and suspicious at the sight of a sickly Andromeda. After this, Madam Pomfrey left to find Snape and came back not too long after.

After all the classes had finished for the day, Dorcas, Noah, Harry and Hermione visited Andromeda and Ron in the hospital wing.

"It's not just my hand," Ron whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me -I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

Harry, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no oh no - I've just remembered - Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Nobody got a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron and Andromeda needed sleep.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told them as he hugged Andromeda goodbye. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

Before the four of them left, Andromeda crawled out of her hospital bed and called out to Dorcas. Dorcas hung back and she and Andromeda walked to a secluded corner.

"I've realized something, you know," Andromeda said. "You get sick around the full moon. Madam Pomfrey mentioned earlier that you tried something but it didn't help. Was that the Wolfsbane Potion?"

Dorcas went white as a sheet. "I - I don't know what you're talking about."

Andromeda went on. "Remus was too sick to come to the last Quidditch match, and that match was around a full moon. And when you talked to Madam Pomfrey, you said that your father is Remus and she seemed to understand what you were talking about. She worked here when Remus went to Hogwarts which means that she would know he is a werewolf."

Dorcas sighed sadly. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend."

"Why the bloody hell would I not want to be your friend?"

"Because my dad is a werewolf and I'm half werewolf. We're monsters, huh?"

Andromeda stared at her, unimpressed. "Dorcas, you fold your socks and you carry three quills around in case one or two of them breaks. Forgive me for not trembling in fear."

"Wait," Dorcas stared at her. "You _do_ want to be my friend. You aren't scared?"

Andromeda scoffed and shook her head.

Dorcas beamed and flung her arms around her. Andromeda hugged her back but felt guilty for not telling her about her own problems with the full moon.

The Wolfsbane Potion did settle her stomach, but Madam Pomfrey wanted to keep her there until the full moon passed. On Wednesday, it did and the potion seemed to have worked. Before she left, after saying goodbye to Ron who was still there, Madam Pomfrey told her to come back next month a week before the full moon for the potion.

She received a pleasant letter from Remus telling her that Dorcas had informed him that Andromeda knew about his lycanthropy, and he said he is glad she is so understanding. Andromeda wrote back reminding him that he isn't a monster, sending him some Chocolate Frogs she retrieved from the kitchens.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall. Hermione had stayed behind so it was just Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Andromeda as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as they covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another - even one of Andromeda's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there!" Noah panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you -"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter and Andromeda Black's coming - they've got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Dorcas did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!" Andromeda said.

"Don't," Harry advised her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed them the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going... going... gone. Andromeda sniffled.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."

They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.


	15. Chapter 15 - The Forbidden Forest

**Chapter 15 - The Forbidden Forest**

Things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover- up stories chased each other around Andromeda's brain, each more feeble than the last. She couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak? There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and they might as well be packing their bags already. Andromeda tried having faith. She had been caught out of bed before and been in trouble for far worse, but her optimism failed her when she saw her Transfiguration professor.

When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other four. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag -"

Andromeda shook her head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

Andromeda opened her mouth to speak, but just like on Halloween, her voice failed her.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Andromeda caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering Neville – Andromeda knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Six students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before!" Andromeda snorted at the thought of her dad and his friends. McGonagall shot her a glare. "You, Miss Lupin, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. And Miss Black I am disappointed. You had just gotten yourself out of detentions. All five of you will receive detentions - yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous - and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor and your parents will be told."

"Fifty?" Andromeda gasped - they would lose the lead, the lead Harry had won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.

"Professor - please -" Noah said.

"You can't -"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Two hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor well into last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup. Andromeda felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. How could they ever make up for this?

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first years. Of course, none of them were surprised to find that Andromeda was involved, but they were furious with her nonetheless.

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"

Only Ron stood by them.

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."

"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.

"Well - no," Ron admitted.

It was a bit late to repair the damage, but that didn't stop Andromeda from her usual antics. All it changed was the direction of her pranks. Instead of all of Slytherin, it was not just Draco Malfoy. The morning after they were caught, Malfoy found himself not being able to talk. Every time he opened his mouth, red bubbles flowed out endlessly.

Harry was treated the worst out of the five Gryffindors. He even tried quitting his position on the Quidditch team.

"Resign?" Wood thundered when Harry had told him. "What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"

But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry and Andromeda during practice, and if they had to speak about them, they called him "the Seeker" or "Black's daughter." That last one, Andromeda thought, was the worst. She had just got people believing she was more than a murderer's daughter.

Dorcas, Noah and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, and Andromeda, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. Dorcas had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence. Even Noah, who was usually talkative and making jokes barely spoke anymore. The six of them had made a decision to not meddle in things that weren't their concern.

Remus sent owls off to Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah after he was notified. Even though it was only Remus telling them that he was disappointed, but not mad, Andromeda felt happy because she had someone telling her off about her wrongdoings, which she hadn't really had before since at the Dursley's to wasn't really trouble her and Harry were causing.

Andromeda was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying Dorcas had made her do better pay off. The four of them, including Ron and Hermione, kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions...

Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's and Andromeda's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern them was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library on their own one afternoon, they heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As they drew closer, they heard Quirrell's voice.

"No - no - not again, please -"

It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry and Andromeda moved closer.

"All right - all right -" he heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Andromeda didn't think Quirrell had even noticed them. They waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry and Andromeda were halfway toward it before they remembered what they'd promised themselves about not meddling.

All the same, they'd both have gambled twelve Sorcerer's Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from what they had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step - Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.

Harry and Andromeda went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy and Dorcas was testing Noah in Charms. They told them what they'd heard.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell -"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Dorcas.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

"But we've got no proof!" said Andromeda. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor - who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

Hermione looked convinced, but Noah didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around -"

"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around."

Andromeda sighed as he pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.

The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:

 _Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._

 _Professor McGonagall_

Andromeda had forgotten they still had detentions to do. She half expected Dorcas to complain that this was a whole night of studying lost, but she didn't say a word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they'd got. Andromeda and Noah, on the other hand, groaned loudly.

At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron and Hermione in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there - and so was Malfoy. Andromeda had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too. It cheered her up.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Andromeda wondered what their punishment was going to be, she always just had to clean, but this was outside. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Andromeda's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. Her relief must have showed in her face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, Black - it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

"It isn't even a full moon, you dolt," Andromeda snapped at Malfoy. "And if Dumbledore would let a student or teacher that was a werewolf into this castle, he would certainly make sure that they were looked after on the full moon, not out and about so someone could get hurt."

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, you four?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest," he said, and Andromeda was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this -"

"- He'd tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on"'

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth. Andromeda snorted. Fang wasn't going to do much.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, Andromeda an' Dorcas'll go one way an' Draco, Noah Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now -that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right.

They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried.

"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.

"No!" Andromeda and Dorcas said quickly. Harry gave them a strange look. The two girls glanced at each other.

"Not fast enough," said Hagrid. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

They walked past a mossy tree stump. Andromeda could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.

"You all right, Dorcas?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter - GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Hagrid seized Harry, Andromeda and Dorcas and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The four of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.

"I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.

"No!" Andromeda and Dorcas exclaimed.

"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself - I'm armed!"

And into the clearing came - was it a man, or a horse? To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry, Andromeda and Dorcas' jaws dropped.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"

He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"

"Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter an' Andromeda Black an' Dorcas Lupin, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you three. He's a centaur."

"We'd noticed," said Dorcas faintly.

"Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"

"Erm -"

"A bit," said Hermione timidly.

"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt - you seen anythin'?"

Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then sighed again.

"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."

"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home, said Hagrid. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"

Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, "The forest hides many secrets."

A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and wilder-looking than Ronan.

"Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid. "All right?"

"Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"

"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured - would yeh know anythin' about it?"

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward. "Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.

"We've heard," said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."

Harry, Andromeda and Dorcas followed him out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.

"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

"Are there many of them in here?" asked Andromeda.

"Oh, a fair few... Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs... they know things... jus' don' let on much."

"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.

"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns - never heard anythin' like it before."

They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. Andromeda was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They had just passed a bend in the path when Dorcas grabbed Hagrid's arm.

"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"

"You three wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"

They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Dorcas.

"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville... it's our fault he's here in the first place," replied Harry.

The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Andromeda's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?

At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups - Neville, you stay with me an' Dorcas an' Noah, an' Harry an' 'Dromeda, you go with Fang an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry and Andromeda, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."

So Harry and Andromeda set off into the heart of the forest with Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Andromeda thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. She could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look -" Harry murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy and Andromeda.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.

It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Andromeda had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

They had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made them freeze where they stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered... Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Andromeda, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted - so did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry and Andromeda - unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward them - they couldn't move for fear.

Then a pain pierced her left forearm as if hot metal was being pressed to it; it was as though her scar were on fire. She clasped a hand over her scar and Harry did the same to his, pain etched into his face. Half blinded, her and Harry staggered backward. She heard hooves behind them, galloping, and something jumped clean over Harry and Andromeda, charging at the figure.

The pain in Andromeda's forearm was so bad she fell to her knees, as did Harry. Without realizing it, she turned into a dog, as she sometimes did. It wasn't as bad as the pain from her nightmare, from the Cruciatus Curse, but it came close. It took a minute or two to pass once she had turned. When Harry looked up and Andromeda followed his gaze, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over them, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet. Andromeda tried turning back into human. When she couldn't, she settled for barking a response, hoping the centaur understood.

"Yes - thank you - what was that?"

The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry and Andromeda, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said. He looked down at Andromeda."This means that you must be the Black girl. You two had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time - especially for you two. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way."

Andromeda went to bark at him that she couldn't, that she was a dog, but when she did, she ended up turning back to a human.

"My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry and Andromeda could clamber onto his back.

There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.

"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have humans on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy and the Black girl. The quicker they leave this forest, the better."

"What have you been telling them?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

Ronan pawed the ground nervously. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said in his gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs in anger.

"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on and Andromeda grabbed Harry.

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could with Andromeda clutching him, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.

Andromeda didn't have a clue what was going on.

"Why's Bane so angry?" Harry asked. "What was that thing you saved us from, anyway?"

Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Harry and Andromeda to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer Harry's question. They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore. They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.

"Harry Potter, Andromeda Black, do you know what unicorn blood is used -for?"

"No," said Andromeda, startled by the odd question. "We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions."

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Harry and Andromeda stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in the moonlight.

"But who'd be that desperate?" Harry wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?"

"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else - something that will bring you back to full strength and power - something that will mean you can never die. Mr. Potter, Miss Black, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone!" Andromeda said. "Of course - the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who -"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?

It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Andromeda's heart. Over the rustling of the trees, she seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told her and Harry on the night they had met: "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."

"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol-"

"Harry! Andromeda, are you all right?"

Dorcas and Noah were running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.

"We're fine," said Harry. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."

Harry and Andromeda slid off his back.

"Good luck, Harry Potter, and to you, Andromeda Black," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."

He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry and Andromeda shivering behind him.

Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. Ron shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook them awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry and Andromeda began to tell him, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione what had happened in the forest.

Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking.

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich..."

"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.

Harry didn't seem to be listening.

"Firenze saved us, but he shouldn't have done so..." Andromeda carried on with Harry. "Bane was furious... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen... They must show that Voldemort's coming back... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill us... I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.

Noah nudged him and said, "It's just a name."

"So all we've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish us off... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."

Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"Hang on," Dorcas said. "Harry, you said "finish _us_ off". Voldemort only tried to kill you. Not you and 'Dromeda. Why did you say "us"?"

Andromeda and Harry glanced at each other and she touched her forearm. They continued talking about Voldemort and Snape, ignoring Dorcas' question.

The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.

After settling into an uneasy sleep, Andromeda woke suddenly, screaming as she felt the pain from a nightmare about the woman with black hair.

Her Silencing Charm still worked, and Andromeda was grateful for it more now than ever. She got up, pain still everywhere in her body, put her robe on and wandered off to the kitchens, hoping that the house-elf, Tiny, was awake, wincing with every step.

It was the morning after that it happened. Dorcas approached her after she finished getting dressed. The other girls had already gone on, even Hermione. Andromeda knew what she was going to ask before she even spoke the question.

"What did Harry mean last night?"

She didn't have to elaborate and explain which part of last night she was talking about.

Andromeda sat down on her bed, wincing still from her nightmare, and gestured for Dorcas to sit next to her.

They sat there for a moment in silence until Dorcas blurted out, "Well?"

Slowly, Andromeda reached and pulled the left sleeve of her robe up to her elbow and showed Dorcas the scar. It was a long white scar going from her wrist to her elbow and Dorcas gasped when she saw it.

After a few minutes of silence, Andromeda said, "That's why I live with Harry and his aunt and Uncle. I was there that night, too. He tried to kill me, too. My mother died that night in that house. Only you, Harry, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley and some random woman knows about it.

"I've been thinking about the random woman lately. I was three when it happened. I wandered off and she found me. Madam Pomfrey and I think she used the Cruciatus Curse on me that day. On Christmas Eve I had a nightmare about it and woke up in pain as if the spell was being cast on me again. It happened last night, too."

"Was that why you snuck out last night?" Dorcas said softly. "I couldn't sleep and I saw you leave."

Andromeda nodded. "You can't tell anyone about my scar, and I would appreciate if you didn't say anything about the woman either."

"Why don't you want anyone to know?" Dorcas asked.

"I don't want people to look at me like they look at Harry. And they might blame me even further for Harry's parent's deaths. They might think Voldemort went after them because I'm Sirius Black's daughter. That maybe Dad upset Voldemort and this was his revenge."

"Oh, you can't believe that!" Dorcas exclaimed, standing up and pacing. "You played a part in Voldemort's disappearance. How can anyone be mad about that?"

"Harry might."

Dorcas stopped.

"If people started saying those things, then what if Harry started believing them?" Andromeda asked, a tear involuntarily slipped down her face. "I don't want to lose him. I can't lose him."

Dorcas rushed over and hugged her. "You wouldn't lose him. You wouldn't lose any of us."


	16. Chapter 16 - Through the Trapdoor

**Chapter 16 - Through the Trapdoor**

In years to come, Andromeda would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox - points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Andromeda did the best she could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in her forearm, which had been bothering her ever since her trip into the forest.

All throughout the week before exams and the week of exams Andromeda had nightmares every night. But they weren't about the black-haired woman; they were about Voldemort. It seems that Harry was having the same nightmares, too, but only Dorcas, Noah and Harry knew that Andromeda and Harry's nightmares weren't different. Dorcas had persuaded Andromeda to tell Noah about her scar because Dorcas didn't trust herself not to tell him. The two of them never kept secrets from each other.

The same could be said about Andromeda and Harry, but he didn't know that once a month she had to see Madame Pomfrey everyday for a week for her daily doses of Wolfsbane Potion. Harry also didn't know that after that night in the forest Andromeda had dreamt once again of the woman. She felt bad for lying to him about it, but he had enough to worry about.

Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads or forearms, but Ron, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry and Andromeda. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Andromeda couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Hermione and Dorcas always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"No more studying," Noah sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Harry was rubbing his forehead and Andromeda scratch at her scar. Both scars had taken to itching or burning at the most random times.

"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Dorcas suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming..."

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.

"Harry, 'Dromeda, relax, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Andromeda nodded, but she couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something she'd forgotten to do, something important. When she tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."

Andromeda was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. Harry took her wrist and started rubbing her scar and she reached up and started rubbing his scar. They used to do this when they were younger and they started hurting. Their four friends looked at them strangely, but they didn't stop. They didn't even care that two of their friends didn't even know that Andromeda had a scar.

They watched an owl flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one who ever sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but -

"Hagrid!"Andromeda and Harry said suddenly letting go of each other and jumping to their feet.

"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.

"We've just thought of something," said Harry. Andromeda had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" panted Noah, hurrying to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Andromeda, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" said Dorcas, but Harry and Andromeda, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

He saw the six of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head - that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Andromeda sank down next to the bowl of peas. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well - yeah - how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep -"

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey - where're yeh goin'?"

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Dorcas. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak - it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.

"We'll just have to -" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.

"What are you six doing inside?"

It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

Andromeda swallowed - now what?

"Well, Minnie, it's sort of -" Andromeda started.

"It's sort of secret," Harry said. Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time -"

"But this is important." Dorcas said.

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Miss Lupin."

"Look," said Andromeda, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor - it's about the Sorcerer's Stone -"

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up. "How do you know -?" she spluttered.

"Professor, we think - we know - that Sn- that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. We've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore," Harry said.

She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor -"

"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't.

"It's tonight," said Harry, once Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"But what can we -"

Hermione, Dorcas, Ron and Noah gasped. Harry and Andromed wheeled round.

Snape was standing there.

"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.

They stared at him.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

"We were -" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.

"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"

Andromeda flushed. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

"Be warned, Potter, Black - any more night time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."

He strode off in the direction of the staffroom.

Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others.

"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape - wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, Dorcas, you'd better do that."

"Why us?"

"It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." He put on a high voice, "'Oh Professor Flitwick, we're so worried, we think we got question fourteen b wrong...'"

"Oh, shut up," said Hermione and Dorcas, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.

"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Andromeda told the others. "Come on."

But that part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again and this time, she lost her temper.

"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points from Gryffindor! Yes, Weasley, from my own house!" Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron went back to the common room, Harry had just said, "At least Hermione and Dorcas are on Snape's tail," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Hermione and Dorcas came in.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked us what we were doing, so I said we were waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and we've only just got away, we don't know where Snape went."

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Andromeda said. "Actually, wait here."

Andromeda rushed out of their site and got the Marauder's Map out. She found Snape's name wandering around in the dungeons. She sighed in relief.

When she returned, she said to the group, "The slimeball is in the dungeons."

"How's you know that?" Noah asked as everyone gave her questioning glances. Andromeda just shook her head.

She looked at Harry and they came to a silent understanding.

"We're going out of here tonight and we're going to try and get to the Stone first," Harry explained.

"You're mad!" said Ron.

"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"

"Guys, it'll be _way_ too dangerous," Dorcas said.

"SO WHAT" Andromeda shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If we get caught before we can get to the Stone, well, we'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find us there, it's only dying a bit later than we would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side and neither is Harry!

"We're going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you four say is going to stop us! Voldemort killed my parents and Andy's mum, remember?"

He glared at them.

"You're right Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.

"I'll use the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"But will it cover all six of us?" said Ron.

"All - all three of us?" Andromeda said.

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?" Noah said, smiling.

"Of course not," said Dorcas briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? Me and 'Mione better go and look through some books, there might be something useful..."

"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too," said Harry.

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

After dinner the six of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry and Andromeda any more, after all. This was the first night they hadn't really been upset by it. Hermione and Dorcas were skimming through all their notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try to break.

Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.

"Better get the cloak," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory. He ran back down to the common room, cloak in hand.

"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all six of us - if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own -"

"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.

"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the cloak behind his back.

Neville stared at their guilty faces.

"You're going out again," he said.

"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

Andromeda looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.

"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"You don't understand," said Andromeda, "this is important."

But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate.

"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll - I'll fight you!"

"Neville, "Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot -"

"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to us," said Noah in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."

He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight.

"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"

Harry turned to Hermione.

"Do something," he said desperately.

Hermione stepped forward.

"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."

She raised her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing it at Neville.

Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.

Andromeda ran to turn him over. Neville's jaws were jammed together so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror.

"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.

"It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."

"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.

"You'll understand later, Neville," said Dorcas as they stepped over him and pulled on the invisibility cloak.

But leaving Neville lying motionless on the floor didn't feel like a very good omen. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them. At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.

"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Andromeda whispered in Harry's ear. Harry shook his head, but let a smile spread across his face. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamplike eyes on them, but didn't do anything.

They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.

"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"

He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.

"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

Harry had a sudden idea.

"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.

"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, Sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake - I didn't see you - of course I didn't, you're invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."

"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."

"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."

And he scooted off

"Brilliant, Harry!" whispered Ron.

A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor - and the door was already ajar.

"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly, "Snape's already got past Fluffy."

Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Harry and Andromeda turned to the other four.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak, we won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid," said Ron.

"We're coming," said Dorcas defiantly.

Noah pushed the door open.

As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Andromeda. "Snape must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes..."

He pulled out the flute Hagrid had given for Christmas and put it to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased - it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"

"No, I don't!"

"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" Noah said anxiously.

"Nothing - just black - there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at and then to Andromeda.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione or Dorcas so she can keep him asleep."

Harry handed the flute over to Dorcas. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.

Harry and Andromeda climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.

Andromeda lowered herself through the hole until she was hanging on by his fingertips. She took one last look at Harry and let go.

Cold, damp air rushed past her as he fell down, down, down and - FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump she landed on something soft. She sat up and felt around, her eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though she was sitting on some sort of plant. Harry landed next to her a moment later.

"It's okay!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Harry.

"What's this stuff?" were his first words.

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing," Andromeda said. "I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, you three!"

The next person who landed was Hermione. Then came Noah, then finally, the distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Dorcas had already jumped. She landed on Andromeda's other side.

"We must be miles under the school , she said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.

"Lucky!" shrieked Andromeda when she saw them. She looked down and saw the same thing happening to her, too. "Look at us!"

Hermione leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry, Andromeda, Noah, Dorcas and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as her five friends fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Noah, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare..." Andromeda remembered. "What did Professor Sprout say? - it likes the dark and the damp.."

"So light a fire!" Harry choked.

"Yes - of course, a fire! - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the five of them felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free. Andromeda immediately ran over to Hermione.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Andromeda," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis - 'there's no wood,' honestly."

"This way," said Noah, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Andromeda was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, she remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank.

"Can you hear something?" Dorcas whispered.

Andromeda listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" said Ron

"I don't know... sounds like wings to me," Harry said.

"There's light ahead - I can see something moving," Andromeda said.

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.

"Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run."

He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.

The other five followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora charm.

"Now what?" said Ron.

"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," said Dorcas.

They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering - glittering?

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes - look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!"

Ron examined the lock on the door.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle."

They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.

Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.

"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one - there - no, there - with bright blue wings - the feathers are all crumpled on one side."

Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom.

"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above - Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down – Dorcas, Noah and Andy, come in at it from the sides and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"

Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, Dorcas, Noah and Andromeda flew at it from the side, it dodged them, too, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Everyone's cheers echoed around the high chamber.

They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

"Ready?" Harry asked the other five, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.

"Now what do we do?" Noah whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."

Behind the white pieces they could see another door.

"How?" said Hermione nervously.

"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."

He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.

"Do we - er - have to join you to get across?" The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other five.

"This needs thinking about," he said. I suppose we've got to take the place of six of the black pieces..."

They stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess, except for maybe Noah -"

"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Andromeda, you next to him instead of that castle. And Dorcas, you can be the queen, and Noah the other Bishop. Hermione, you're the other castle."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.

The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a queen, two bishops, and two castles turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione took.

"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes... look..."

A white pawn had moved forward two squares.

Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Andromeda's knees were trembling. What if they lost?

"Harry - move diagonally four squares to the right."

Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.

"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..."

The white queen turned her blank face toward him.

"Yes..." said Ron softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."

"NO!" they all shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But -"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron -" Andromeda tried.

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

"I'll stay with him," Noah offered.

There was no alternative.

"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor - Hermione and Noah screamed but stayed on their squares - the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.

Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left.

The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway, Noah staying behind with Ron.

"What if he's -?" Hermione started.

"He'll be all right," said Dorcas, trying to convince herself. "What do you reckon's next?"

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."

They had reached another door.

"All right?" Harry whispered, taking Andromeda's hand. She nodded.

"Go on," Dorcas said.

Harry pushed it open.

A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making all of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."

He pulled open the next door, all of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Andromeda looked over her shoulder to read it:

 _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

 _Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,_

 _One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

 _Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

 _Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

 _Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line._

 _Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_

 _To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

 _First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

 _You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

 _Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

 _But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

 _Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

 _Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

 _Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

 _Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

Hermione let out a great sigh and Andromeda, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.

"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."

"But so will we, won't we?"

"Of course not," said Dorcas. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which to drink?" Andromeda asked.

"Give us a minute."

Hermione and Dorcas read the paper several times. Then they walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to each other and pointing at them. At last, they clapped their hands.

"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - toward the Stone."

Andromeda looked at the tiny bottle.

"There's only enough there for two of us," Harry said.

"That's hardly anything," Andromeda said.

They all looked at each other.

"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"

Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.

"You and Dorcas drink that," said Harry. "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying- key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. We might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but we're no match for him, really."

"But - what if Voldemort's with him?" Dorcas said.

"Well - we were lucky once, wasn't er?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "We might get lucky again."

Hermione looked confused at the mention of "us", but then she shook her head and her lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and Andromeda and threw her arms around them.

"Hermione!"

"Harry - you're a great wizard, you know."

"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.

"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh Harry - be careful! And Andromeda, please don't get hurt! You are more than just a murderer's daughter, you know that, right?"

Andromeda nodded and looked past her at Dorcas. Dorcas stood watching them silently. Andromeda moved quickly and embraced Dorcas who started crying.

"Please be safe," she sobbed.

"I'll try."

"Trying isn't enough sometimes," she said, pulling away. "Promise me you won't die."

Andromeda looked at her. "I solemnly swear."

Dorcas seemed to accept that and Andromeda went back over to Harry.

"You two drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"

"Positive," said Hermione. She took a long drink from the round bottle at the end, and shuddered as she passed it to Dorcas who did the same.

"It's not poison?" said Andromeda anxiously.

"No - but it's like ice."

"Quick, go, before it wears off."

"Good luck - take care."

"GO!"

Hermione and Dorcas turned and walked straight through the purple fire.

Andromeda took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. She turned to face the black flames.

"Ready?" she asked Harry.

"No," he said. "But let's go."

They both took a gulp of the potion.

It was indeed as though ice was flooding her body. Harry put the bottle down and they walked forward; she braced herself, saw the black flames licking her and Harry's bodies, but couldn't feel them - for a moment she could see nothing but dark fire - then she was on the other side, in the last chamber, Harry right beside her..

There was already someone there - but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.


	17. Chapter 17 - The Man With Two Faces

**Chapter 17 - The Man With Two Faces**

It was Quirrell.

"You!" gasped Harry.

Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.

"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here."

"I'm so bloody confused," Andromeda muttered.

"But I thought - Snape -"

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, and it wasn't his usual quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

Andromeda couldn't take it in. This couldn't be true, it couldn't.

"But Snape tried to kill me!"

"No, no, no. I tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you."

" _Snape_ was trying to save Harry?" Andromeda said, astounded.

"Of course," said Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really... he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular... and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."

Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry and Andromeda.

"You're too nosy to live, Black. Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."

"You let the troll in?"

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off - and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly. Now, wait quietly, Potter, Black. I need to examine this interesting mirror."

It was only then that Andromeda realized what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this... but he's in London... I'll be far away by the time he gets back..."

All they could think of doing was to keep Quirrell talking and stop him from concentrating on the mirror.

"We saw you and Snape in the forest -" Harry blurted out.

"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side..."

Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and stared hungrily into it.

"I see the Stone... I'm presenting it to my master... but where is it?"

Andromeda struggled against the ropes binding her, but they didn't give. They had to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the mirror.

"But Snape always seemed to hate us so much," Harry said.

"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your fathers, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead."

"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - I thought Snape was threatening you..."

For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.

"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak -"

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Andromeda gasped.

"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly. "I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it... Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me... decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me..."

Quirrell's voice trailed away. Andromeda was remembering his trip to Diagon Alley -how could she have been so stupid? They'd seen Quirrell there that very day, Harry had shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron.

Quirrell cursed under his breath.

"I don't understand... is the Stone inside the mirror? Should I break it?"

"Why only try and kill, Harry?" Andromeda said, trying to distract him. Harry wriggled around in his restraints. "We were all sneaking around looking for clues."

"Because, you stupid girl, he killed my master," Quirrell spat at her. He turned back to the mirror.

"I helped."

Quirrell froze. "What?"

"I was there that night, too." Andromeda watched as Harry tripped over, but Quirrell paid him no attention.

"Voldemort tried to kill me but it didn't work," she said. "I even have a scar."

Quirrell looked at her and when he didn't see any scar, he turned back to the mirror. He started talking to himself again. "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"

And to Harry's and Andromeda's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself

"Use the boy... Use the boy..."

Quirrell rounded on Harry.

"Yes - Potter - come here."

He clapped his hands once, and the ropes binding Harry fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet.

"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Harry walked toward him.

"Harry, no!" Andromeda yelled. "Haven't you figured it out? Voldemort is with him!"

But Harry just kept walking. Andromeda held her breath.

Quirrell moved close behind him. He closed his eyes, stepped in front of the mirror, and opened them again.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I - I've won the house cup for Gryffindor."

Quirrell cursed again and Andromeda let out her breath.

"Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside. He started to walk back to Andromeda and tapped his pocket discreetly. It looked as if there was something in it. At once, Andromeda understood. Harry had the Stone.

But he hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.

"He lies... He lies..."

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"

The high voice spoke again and Andromeda tried to free herself.

"Let me speak to him... face-to-face..."

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough... for this..."

Andromeda stopped pulling around in the restraints. Petrified, she watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.

Andromeda screamed. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Andromeda had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Harry Potter..." it whispered.

Harry tried to take a step backward but his legs wouldn't move.

"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour ... I have form only when I can share another's body... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks... you and Black saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own... Now... why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"

So he knew. Harry stumbled backward.

"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me... or you'll meet the same end as your parents... They died begging me for mercy..."

"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.

Quirrell was walking backward at him, so that Voldemort could still see him. The evil face was now smiling.

"How touching..." it hissed. "I always value bravery... Yes, boy, your parents were brave... I killed your father first; and he put up a courageous fight... but your mother needn't have died... she was trying to protect you... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."

"NEVER!"

Harry sprang toward the flame door, but Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HIM!" and the next second, Andromeda saw Quirrell's hand close on his wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Andromeda's scar; she yelled, struggling with all her might to get to them, and to her surprise, Quirrell let go of Harry. The pain in her arm lessened - she looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone, and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they were blistering before his eyes.

Her restraints fell off her and she rushed over to Harry.

"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet and landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck – Andromeda's scar was almost blinding her with pain, yet she could see Quirrell howling in agony. She jumped on Quirrell's back, trying to force him off Harry.

"Master, I cannot hold him - my hands - my hands!"

And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees and with Andromeda pulling him back, let go of Harry's neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms - Andromeda could see they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny.

"Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort.

Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face -

"AAAARGH!"

Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Andromeda knew: Quirrell couldn't touch Harry's bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain.

She held Quirrell still with as much strength as she could muster and Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off - the pain in Andromeda's arm was building and she could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"

She felt Quirrell wrenched from her grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down ... down... down...

The next thing Andromeda knew, she was lying down in a very bright room. She blinked repeatedly and the hospital wing came into focus. She looked around and saw Harry on the bed next to her.

Next to both her and Harry's beds were tables filled with what looked like half the candy shop. When she moved her eyes around the room more, she found a pleasant surprise; Remus snoring away in a chair next to her bed.

She smiled, turned to the closest candy-filled table, grabbed a Chocolate Frog, and threw it at him. It hit him right in the face and he jumped and looked around frantically.

His eyes landed on her and he let out a relieved sigh and rushed to engulf her in a hug. She returned the hug.

"How long have I been in here?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Two days," Remus replied. "Dorcas is very upset, something about a promise?"

"Huh?" Andromeda said. Then she remembered. "Oh. I swore I wouldn't die."

"Ah," he said. "She was confused, too, when I showed up here. I take it you haven't told her either?"

"No. I don't know if I want her to right now. I want to be just her friend before I'm her cousin, if that makes sense."

Remus nodded. There was a moment of silence. "Madam Pomfrey has told me some interesting things."

"And what would they be about?" Andromeda said innocently.

"You."

"Well, I am a great topic of conversation if I do say so myself."

"Apparently," Remus said, "you can turn into a dog?"

"Well now you know about as much as me on the topic."

"Can I see it?"

Andromeda looked down at her hands. "I don't know how to control it."

Remus was smiling when she looked up at him. "You know, your father and both Harry's and Noah's fathers were dear friends of mine at Hogwarts. They were my best friends. When they found out about my - ah -"

"Furry little problem?" Andromeda offered.

Lupin smiled fondly at the choice of words. "Yes, well they became animagi. Illegally, might I add. James was a magnificent stag, little Peter was a rat and your father was a black dog."

"But I thought I read somewhere an animagus can't pass on their powers to transform onto their children."

"It might have something to do with your mother."

Andromeda froze.

"Your mother was an metamorphmagus, like you, she favoured having red hair over black, however. But, you see, I wasn't the only werewolf in the family. Emily was as well."

Andromeda was in shock. Her mother was a werewolf? But it made so much sense. That would be why Andromeda is like how she is every month. How could she have not guessed that before?

"I don't know how you became an animagus, or if that could be the result of an animagus and a werewolf. I really don't know, I'm afraid."

"So, do you think I can control changing?" Andromeda asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. Try concentrating on changing, imagine yourself as a dog. That's what your father did."

"And you won't tell Dorcas? Only I don't want anyone to know I'm a half werewolf right now," she said. "Not that it's a bad thing, but I don't want people to have another reason to hate me. Did Madam Pomfrey tell you anything else?"

"If you are referring to what happened when you were younger with the Cruciatus Curse, then yes, she did."

"But you wouldn't happen to know who would do that?" Andromeda asked. "She had long black hair. It was really messy, too. Her skin was very pale, and she had grey eyes."

"Did she by any chance happen to look a bit like your father? Maybe you could change your face to look like hers?"

Now that Andromeda thought about it, the woman did look like her father. She had the same black hair, pale skin and grey eyes he did.

"She kind of does look like him. Like me."

"You do look almost just like her, you know. Like the woman. It's a bit strange sometimes, but she isn't the person that comes to mind when someone sees you. You look like the female version of your father."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Bellatrix Lestrange," Remus said the name like Andromeda should know the name. But at her blank stare, he continued, "she's your father's cousin. She's in Azkaban. Was one of Voldemort's followers."

Remus left later that day after making sure she was alright. No one stopped by but the next day, Dumbledore visited.

"Good afternoon, Miss Black," he said politely. "Feeling better, I presume?"

She nodded. He turned and looked at Harry.

"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore. Andromeda's head snapped towards Harry and saw that he was awake. His eyes widened.

"Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick -"

"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does? Sir, I -"

"Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out.

Harry swallowed and looked around him. His eyes landed on the candy.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you, Miss Black and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you two a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Three days. Your friends will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."

"But sit, the Stone -"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

"You got there? You got the owl?" Andromeda said.

"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you."

"It was you."

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer -"

"Not the Stone, boy, you - the effort involved nearly killed you two. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" said Andromeda blankly. "But your friend - Nicolas Flamel -"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."

Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on their faces.

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." Harry and Andromedda lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.

"Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking... sir - even if the Stone's gone, Vol-, I mean, You-Know- Who -"

"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, while you two may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time - and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Harry nodded. Then he said, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me... things I want to know the truth about..."

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."

"Well... Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.

"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day... put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older... I know you hate to hear this... when you are ready, you will know."

"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the windowsill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet. When he had found his voice again, Harry said, "And the invisibility cloak - do you know who sent it to me?"

"Ah - your father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

"And there's something else..."

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said Snape -"

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Yes, him - Quirrell said he hates us because he hated our fathers. Is that true?"

"Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourselves and Mr. Malfoy. And then, Harry, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What?"

"He saved his life."

"What?"

"Yes..." said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt... I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father even. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace..."

Harry tried to understand this but it made his head pound, so he stopped.

"And sir, there's one more thing..." Andromeda said, remembering something.

"Just the one?"

"How did Harry get the Stone out of the mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes... Now, enough questions. I suggest you two make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them - but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"

He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!"

"Oh, one quick thing," Dumbledore said, turning towards Andromeda. "Why was it that you were passed out. It was such a mystery when I arrived. I had assumed Harry here had passed out from the pain of his scar, but you, Miss Black, did not seem to have any serious damage done."

"I - uh - I don't know, sir," Andromeda lied.

* * *

"Just five minutes," Harry pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"You let Professor Dumbledore in..."

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different. You need rest."

"We are resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, come on, Madam Pomfrey..." Andromeda said.

"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."

And she let Ron, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione in.

"Harry! 'Dromeda!"

Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around them again, but Andromeda was glad she held herself because her arm was still a bit sore.

"Oh, we were sure you two were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -"

"The whole school's talking about it," said Noah. "What really happened?"

It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours. Harry and Andromeda told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. They were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when they told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Dorcas finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that - what was it? - 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure," Andromeda said.

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.

"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.

"Well, we got back all right," said Hermione. "We brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said, 'Harry and Andromeda's gone after him, haven't they?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did - I mean to say that's terrible - you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give us a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let us find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought we had the right to face Voldemort if we could..."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course - you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you - but the food'll be good."

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT" she said firmly.

Before Dorcas left, she marched over to Andromeda, punched her on the arm, threw her arms around her and then left without saying one word.

After another good night's sleep, Andromeda felt nearly back to normal.

"We want to go to the feast," Harry told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened their many candy boxes. "We can, can't we?"

"Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to go," she said stiffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realize how risky feasts could be. "And you have another visitor."

"Oh, good," said Andromeda. "Who is it?"

Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down in between them, took one look at them, and burst into tears.

"It's - all - my - ruddy - fault!" he sobbed, his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know, an' I told him! Yeh could've died! All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again! I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"

"Hagrid!" said Harry, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard. "Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."

"Yeh could've died!" sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"

"VOLDEMORT!" Andromeda bellowed, and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying. "We've met him and we're calling him by his name. Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, we've got loads..."

Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds me. I've got yers a present."

"It's not a sandwich, is it?" said Harry anxiously, and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle. "Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead - anyway, got yeh this..."

It seemed to be two handsome, leather-covered books. One for Harry and one for Andromeda. Andromeda opened it curiously and flicked through the photos, her mother and father smiling back at her in every one of them.

"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin' fer photos... knew yeh didn' have any... d'yeh like it?"

Harry and Andromeda couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood.

Harry and Andromeda made their way down to the end-of-year feast that night. They had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing about, insisting on giving them one last check-up each, so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

When Harry and Andromeda walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. They slipped into a seats next Ron and Hermione and across from Dorcas and Noah at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at them.

Harry nudged her and whispered in her ear, "Looks like I'm not the only famous one."

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy- two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Andromeda could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...

"First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last there was silence again.

"Second - to both Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Dorcas Lupin... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house one hundred points."

"Third – to Mr Noah Pettigrew, who stood by his friends when they needed him most, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Dorcas and Noah high fived and smiled broadly and Hermione buried her face in her arms; Andromeda strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves - they were a hundred and fifty points up. "Third - to Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Andromeda Black..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points to each you."

The sound was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points - exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup - if only Dumbledore had given Harry or Andromeda just one more point.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Andromeda in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him.

"Which means, Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. He caught Andromeda's eye and she knew at once that Snape's feelings toward her hadn't changed one jot. This didn't worry her. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.

It was the best evening of Andromeda's life, better than winning at Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out mountain trolls... she would never, ever forget tonight.

Andromeda had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To their great surprise, Harry, Noah and Ron passed with good marks; Hermione and Andromeda, of course, had the best grades of the first years, tied in first place with Docas only a few marks behind. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing at the outrageous colours Andromeda could change her hair into (she finally settled on a turquoise) as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "all of you - I'll send you an owl."

"Yeah, and you can always come over our house," Dorcas said.

"Thanks," said Harry, "We'll need something to look forward to." People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:

"Bye, Harry!"

"Later, Black!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Bye, 'Dromeda!"

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at him.

"Not where we're going, I promise you," said Andromeda.

Ron, Noah and Hermione passed through the gateway together, Harry, Andromeda and Dorcas following closely behind. "There he is, Mom, there he is, look!"

It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.

"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see him!"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

Andromeda laughed and wiggled her eyebrows at Harry who shook his head with a smile plastered on his face.

Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them.

"Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"The fudge was very good, thank you," Andromeda said.

"Oh, it was nothing, dears."

"Ready, are you?"

It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still moustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people and Andromeda with her outrageous hair and her cat. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry and Andromeda.

"You must be Harry and Andromeda's family!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, we haven't got all day." He walked away.

Harry and Andromeda hung back for a last word with Ron, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione. She waved when she caught sight of Remus.

"See you over the summer, then."

"Seriously," Noah said. "Come visit anytime."

"Hope you have - er - a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.

"Oh, we will," said Andromeda, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over hers and Harry's faces. "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. We're going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer..."

 **Okay, so that is book one. It's holidays here so I can get started on book two, which should be then be finished and uploaded in a couple days. Let me know if you would like me to do a "Marauders Read Potter and Black and the Philosopher's Stone." I figure that might be a bit interesting to write. R &R.**


	18. Author's Note

**Hi! So I just want to know what you, as the readers, want to happen for the rest of the books so I just want to ask a few questions.**

 **1\. What/who do you want to see more of/less of?**

 **2\. Last time I wrote a couple of books similar to this, I had Andromeda go and live with the Tonks family, but had her have to choose between the Tonks' and the Malfoys because she is part of their family. Who do you want Andromeda to live with? Or should she stay with the Dursleys?**

 **3\. What relationships do you want to see happen throughout the series (I'm already going to do Harry/Andromeda)?**

 **4\. What headcannons or ideas do you have that you would like me to put into the books?**

 **5\. I was thinking of playing around with the idea that Andromeda stumbles upon 12 Grimmauld Place either in CoS or PoA. Should I do this(if yes, which book would you like to see it happen in), or wait until OotP for her to finally see it?**

 **You can either private message me or leave it as a review, I don't mind either way and you can do it anonymously if you wish. If you have any answers to these questions, it would be great, even if it is just for one or two of the questions. Thanks!**


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